Dragonball Souseiji
by Icegazer
Summary: Co-written with Kunika©. This fanseries takes place after dbz, and dbgt never happens. Lots of new characters and all the old characters play a role as well, but it centers on a pair of amazon twins Shiroi and Kuroi.
1. Default Chapter

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Prologue:

It has been more than a year since Buu destroyed Chikyuu, and once Chikyuu was wished back to it's original glory, the moon was mysteriously restored with it. Dende, not seeing a harm in the moon being there since none of the Saiyajin had grown their tails back, and it affected life on Chikyuu greatly, he talked Piccolo into letting it remain. (Yes, he is god, but then again Piccolo was the one who destroyed it and would do so again if he so chose.) Life on Chikyuu was peaceful once again.

And since no good bad guy likes to let things alone and leave a peaceful planet be, one came along in the form of Buu's second reincarnation: Uubuu. That's two u's in the end, not just one.

Uubuu was bad. He was bad to the bone. He was reeeeeaaalllyyyyyy bad. So they had to kill 'im. And he died. But not before Trejiita was born from the merging of the warriors Vejiita and Trunks by the Potara earrings.

Trejiita, not seeing logic in living the rest of his life as one where there had once been two, and not liking the fact that Bulma would suffer greatly, he disappeared into the depths of Chikyuu to begin a new life. The Z senshi believed they had died in the battle since they could no longer feel Vejiita and Trunks' ki. No one knew that Trejiita was made since all of the senshi were out cold on the ground faaaaar away from the final battle for them to come to and see or sense it.

They had once wished on the dragon balls for them to be revived, but Shenlon, not being able to revive people already alive, could not perform the task set before him.

The story begins with Kuroi and Shiroi, twins since their third birthday. Actually they were twins since birth, but they didn't realize it until their third birthday when they both celebrated the same event of both of them on the same day.. Forgive them.. they are simple girls with one track minds. Anyway, on with the show.

Just checking to see if you were really reading. I promise.. WE promise the rest of the story will be better. Actually, it'll be more serious. We're just giving you information so that you don't go "What the &#" when you begin it. Thank you and stay tuned.


	2. Chapter One

**CHAPTER ONE:**

Hearing an unnatural noise, Kuroi's head whipped around, finding only trees staring back at her. A lock of stiff black hair fell upon her ivory cheek, pale blue eyes narrowing as she continued to stare. Scowling a bit, she turned back to her work, hoping to finish before dark. She hated having to skin and gut an animal for dinner. Not that it disgusted her; in truth, she was rather used to it. It was just that she wished she could be training with her sister, Shiroi, instead of dallying over necessities.

Pausing in her work, she sat back on her haunches and sighed. She wiped a blood stained hand across her cheek, smearing a red streak across her skin. Shi-chan. Her twin. She had been gone for a week now, and missed her beyond belief. Had she not had to watch over and tend to their house, she would have gone with her, but Shiroi insisted otherwise. She smiled a little. At least she would be returning tonight. She had hunted and killed a large buck for the occasion. Returning her attention to her handiwork, she hoped she had enough time to finish preparing it before her arrival.

Another sound emanated from behind her, causing Kuroi's muscles to tense. Her eyes narrowed again, but she kept her position, pretending she hadn't heard. A small smirk played across her lips, telling herself to chastise Shiroi for being so obvious in her 'sneak' attack.

"Ku-chaaaan! Tadaima! I'm back, and you'll never guess what I found out!" Kuroi looked up, confusion washing over her. She could see her twin's white hair peeking around the corner of the house curiously. Obviously, she had dropped her bundle at the door. Shiroi's black eyes flitted over, spotting Kuroi. A grin formed, and she rose a darkly tanned hand to wave. If Shiroi was over there, then...?

The trees exploded behind Kuroi as a dark figure flew out, aiming for her back. Shiroi's face fell, and she could see something glittering in the figure's hand. A knife. A sharp one.

Shiroi's black eyes widened as she turned the corner and the scene in front of her unfolded. _No! Nooooo! Not Kuroi! Please, Kami-sama let me get there first. Take me instead of her. She's done nothing to deserve this end! Let me save her!_

Shiroi sprinted towards her sister in the desperate hope that she could deflect at the most, or redirect in the least.

The knife sunk deep. She had been too late! The pain her sister felt melted into her mind, and an empathy wound caused her chest to hurt exactly where Kuroi had been stabbed.

Fury. White-hot fury surged from the depths of her heart, and without putting a hitch in her running feet, she launched herself at her twin's attacker. A battle cry was ripped from her throat, the pain of her soul tinting every single word she uttered. Tears sprung to her eyes with the intensity of it.

"You KISAMA!!! KUSO TAREEEE!!!! SHI NEE!!! Die!!"

The sight of an extremely enraged, white haired girl running at him, startled the attacker. That moment of delay was all that Shiroi needed. She didn't hesitate. The impact of her hitting his chest drove both of them to the ground. Once there, Shiroi clawed and punched at his face then tightened her hands around his throat. Kuroi's attacker clawed at her arms in turn, drawing blood. Shiroi failed to feel it. The pain at the thought of her sister lying on the ground, bleeding her life force into it was too raw, too deep for her to feel the slight discomfort from scratches of a dying man.

His arms soon fell lifelessly, no longer trying to pry her hands and arm away from his throat, trying to ease the pressure not allowing him to breath. Shiroi swiftly crawled over to her sister, her black eyes leaking her pain.

"Ku-chan, Ku-chan," she mumbled as she eased her sister into her arms, ignoring the blood that smeared all over her shirt, shorts, arms, and legs. Rocking back and forth consolingly, Shiroi mumbled her sister's name over and over again, like a spell she hoped would wake her from this nightmare. "It's okay. It's okay. We'll get this patched up, and you'll get better. Everything'll be all right."

Kuroi weakly pushed away her sister's searching hands. "No. Leave it alone." Kuroi's body was wracked with coughing, and a splatter of bright blood decorated her mouth and hand when she settled down. Shiroi's eyes widened once more, her head shaking slowly.

"No no no no no, Ku-chan. You can't die on me."

Kuroi ignored her sister, and coughed weakly, holding back the spasms with her will. They eventually dwindled, and Kuroi exhaled heavily. "Too... bad I.. couldn't kill the..." She halted her words as another cough threatened her. It passed. "Kisama," she spat ferociously. "...myself."

Shiroi gasped as Kuroi struggled to her elbows. Wanting to reach to her sister, but knowing better, she remained where she was, itching to hug her twin and make everything all right. Kuroi stared at the face of the man who would be her murderer. Good thing the yarou was dead. The might of justice was swift when dealing with Shiroi. She smirked.

Her face fell from its sneer in pain as well as anger. With the rest of her strength, she spat bloodily on the attacker, and collapsed onto her back again, her elbows giving out.

"Ku-chan!" Shiroi yelled, bolting forward, a hand touching her shoulder. The contact strengthened the bond the both of them shared. Kuroi's thoughts spilled into her mind, and she let them wash over her. The sounds of her sister babbling faded as darkness wrapped her into a blanket. Sinking into the friendliness of the darkness, Kuroi returned the embrace of something dragging her down.

Shiroi gasped as the bond her and her twin had shared snapped.

A keening wail, born from the mourning heart, split the silence of nature. Wildlife was spooked, birds taking to the skies for safety from the hurt thing condemned to the earth. Condemned to an existence without her other half.

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Gokuu perked his ears, raising from his fighting stance. His brow furrowed as he turned to the direction a heartfelt cry sounded from. Uubu, the little dark skinned kid that was a reincarnation of Buu, stilled his movements at his sensei's obvious interest in something other than fighting.

Gokuu stood still, and silently mourned the incident that caused a being to suffer enough to scream that painfully and with such intensity.

"Sensei?" Uubu approached the Earth raised Saiyajin slowly. He had vague knowledge of the heightened senses of Saiyajin, and wondered what Gokuu had heard. What ever it was, it was far away; too quiet for his now human ears to hear martial artist or not. Uubu prayed that whatever it was, it wasn't something evil. Gokuu's eyes refocused on the young boy in front of him.

"Something really bad just happened." Diverting his black eyes from Uubu's, Gokuu returned his gaze into the distance. "There's a mourner out there, letting the world know of her pain."

Uubu's face fell into a similar solemn expression, looking towards the direction it had apparently come from. Quietly, Gokuu asked Dende to watch over the poor soul, receiving a sympathetic affirmation from the boy god.

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Black eyes stared forward. The only thing they could register was a pale face framed by locks of black hair. Everything else, the sounds of nature startled then quieted, the colors around, the varied softness of the grass and hardness of the earth beneath, the smell of death, all faded into a mute gray. The pain in Shiroi's chest, inflicted the moment Kuroi had been stabbed, slowly ebbed away, being replaced by a stark emptiness foreign to her.

Shiroi reached out for it, the last reminder of the bond so recently ripped from her. Emptiness was all her fingers found. Her body fell forward, landing harshly on the red stained ground. Reaching up, she found Kuroi's still warm hand and clasped it tightly in her own. Shiroi's eyes slid shut, and she allowed sleep to overcome her, hoping that when she woke, Kuroi would be there smiling and saying it was all a horrible nightmare.

When her black eyes finally opened, the bluish black of night greeted her, stars piercing her vision. Tilting her head slightly, she found the ebbing moon shining at her behind the silhouette of tree branches. As her senses slowly returned to her, she felt a cold hand within hers. Her eyes flitted over, tracing along the line of her arm to the source of the sensation, tears trailing down her cheeks for a yet unknown reason. Reality shocked back to her when the moonlight shone over her dead sister's body.

Shiroi stared at Kuroi for what seemed an eternity before she moved to a sitting position. Closing her eyes, she stood, and turned away, walking towards their-... her cabin. After a few minutes, Shiroi had gathered the items she dreaded looking at, much less touching, or, such as now, using. They were the items Kuroi and her had used to bury their parents and baby brother's ashes and remains.

Returning outside, she promptly went up the mountain to her family's final resting-place. Taking a moment to pray, she dug out her shovel and began constructing a new grave. Once a proper depth was established, she returned to Kuroi's side, laying a blanket next to her prone body. Fresh tears stung her eyes when she finally looked at her twin. After a moment of staring, she lifted Kuroi's body, placing it on the blanket and wrapping it around her. Shiroi carried the bundle to the fresh grave, laying it within, and began the arduous task of refilling the hole.

Looking up, dirt streaked and sweating, she found the moon to be setting, signaling that morning was growing near, though the sky remained black. Tossing the shovel aside, Shiroi crumpled to the ground, staring at the four marker stones. Her family. All dead. Barely noticing, her eyes fluttered shut, an exhausted sleep overrunning her.

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Shiroi opened her eyes as the sunlight bled through her eyelids. Her sleep had not been a restful one. Sitting up, she stared at the gravestones a moment longer before standing and turning away, walking towards the lake near their home. Pausing in the cabin, she retrieved a new set of clothes, her current set stained with blood, dirt and sweat.

Stepping out into the front, her eyes flitted over to the stained spot of dirt where Kuroi drew her last breath. Her bottom lip quivered before she turned, heading for the lake. She purposefully avoided the area she and Kuroi always bathed in, choosing a different spot so the memories would not flood her. Once she had finished rubbing her skin raw, trying to wash the blood away, she stepped into her new clothes, and gave a last look towards her home, turned and walked the other way.

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Kuroi stared up at the red giant before her. She had heard stories about Dai Enma from her parents, but nothing could possibly prepare her for the size of the god before her.

"Name?" His voice thundered through her, vibrating her like an earthquake's kiss. The fact that she had no longer had a body didn't quite help.

"Ku-kuroi!" she stammered. His attention returned to the huge pile of papers decorating his desk. He made a noise of triumph as he found the file titled 'Kuroi'. Opening it, he skimmed through the written documentation of her life.

Kuroi tried to fight her fearful shaking to no avail. Yes, though he was apparently male, this was a male worth respecting. Not just because of his size and strength, but because of his godhood. Her fear increased as his eyebrows shot up at something in her file.

"It seems you have a special recommendation and request from Dende."

Her shaking stopped as she paused to consider this. Dende? She searched her memory. No, she didn't recall ever meeting someone by that name. "Den..de?" She spoke slowly, making sure to get the name correct.

He chuckled warmly, easing a bit of the fear eating her inside out. "You don't know him. He's the Kami of your planet."

Kuroi's attention perked up at this. Earth's Kami-sama? What was so special about her that would gather the attention of the god of Earth? Dai Enma had returned his attention to her file.

"Apparently, he wants you to keep your body in the afterlife." Kuroi idly wondered if it was possible.

"But why?" she asked.

Dai Enma's brow furrowed as he came across something else in her file. "I see," he said. Looking down to address her, he explained. "You have a twin, correct?" Kuroi slowly confirmed the fact. "Well, you two have a bond which continues to bind you to her. Until she dies and joins you here, you will continue to be linked to your body. Dende must have noticed this."

A strange sensation rocked through her, startling Kuroi. Blinking a few times, she rose her hands to look at them. She had her body back?! Looking up at the red god, he smiled at her. Taking a huge stamp, he pressed it firmly on the upper corner of her file.

"To heaven," he stated simply. In a daze, Kuroi walked away, joining the line of souls ready to leave for heaven.

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She left graves, she left house, she left land, and she left countryside. The only thing that had kept her at the place the both of them had been born and raised was her sister. Also the fact that neither of them had known anything else save for that home and the small city in the crook of the mountains that their home was set upon.

Both of the twins were not soft little girls, though they did have a degree of innocence about them. They grew up with a bear of a father, an ice cube of a mother (that thawed every now and again), far away from civilization and the soft laws of that civilization. Though their lives were not dictated by the civilization below, they were somewhat dependent upon it, more so after the death of their parents. The noise of civilization was bearable since their father was so loud, and frequently so, but the crowded feeling made the duo shy away from overlong stays.

When Shiroi left, she passed the small civilization that was an extension of home to them; the memories were too raw. Maybe she would return if she found nothing beyond the civilization. She knew that their home- everything she considered familiar was home to the twins (now only her)- was large, but the world was larger. Their mother had lived on the other side of the world, her father close to that. Both had traveled this far so that they could raise a family without ridicule or fuss of the places that they were born. Now that her family was gone, the other side of the world looked more welcoming than a home of memories that hurt to remember.

As Shiroi left, she wept the entire way.

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Uubu looked up in mid kick, as his sensei suddenly became silent; his flurried punches and kicks no longer whistling through the air. "Sensei?"

Gokuu grinned over at the boy. "I'm stopping early today." His black eyes moved over to the horizon, and Uubu knew where Gokuu's mind was. "I want to find out what happened." Uubu could see a faint sparkle gleaming in his sensei's eyes; one he knew meant anticipation of a fight. He knew that Gokuu was hoping there was a monster rampaging around and causing havoc that he could fight. "Whatever it was, it sounded really bad, so," Gokuu returned his gaze to his student. "I'm going to go see if there's anything I can do." Raising his hand in a small wave, he rose into the air.

"But sensei-!" Gokuu powered up a bit and blasted away too fast for Uubu to match before the sentence could finish itself.

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Shiroi fidgeted violently as another one of those cursed 'cars' passed by her with incredible speed. It had taken her a long time to get used to the sight of so many cars in once place. In the village near her home the only one who owned a car was the mayor, and even then he rarely used it.

Just as Shiroi was passing a bar, two men in black and red uniforms yelling loudly and leaning heavily upon one another stepped out in front of her. Shiroi flipped backwards into a deep squat, neatly avoiding a crash between her and the obviously drunken men. The man closest to her had seen the movement, and violently threw himself in the opposite direction, something that would have been executed with much more grace and success if he were in complete control of his motor functions. Instead his body weight unbalanced his friend and both of them spilt onto the concrete.

Shiroi slowly rose as the two men struggled against one another, complaining about the other's weight and clumsiness. "Whan I geh mah wisssh, I'm gonna wissssh yoo a fly. Then yoo woulnt be in mah way ssshhho mush!" One yelled, pushing roughly at the other. His friend retaliated by rolling away and cursing him. "I'm gonna wissht you annnn annt. Then I'lll squisssshya." Once they were both standing, they glared at each other. "Lissen yooo, I'm hiiier uuup then yooo are. I'm gonna wisssssh yoo a fly first, annn flies cannt wisssh nuthin'."

The man closest to Shiroi simply glared at his comrade, having nothing to say. Shiroi sighed, and stepped off of the curb to pass the two men. _Males. Idiots. And to top all of that off, they are drunk!_ Just as she had stepped back onto the curb well out of the way, the male that had noticed her out of the corner of his eye noticed her for a second time. "Hey! Thass the reeson why I nockt yooo over!"

The higher-ranking officer glanced over his shoulder at Shiroi, his face slowly turning up into an expression of lust and contempt that Shiroi did not find all too flattering on his plain features, let alone on anyone's face. He turned fully to face Shiroi, taking a large step forward. Shiroi raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if he knew exactly what he was getting into.

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Kuroi shivered slightly as she stepped up the ladder leading to the stylized plane, which would take her to heaven. Turning to see the source of the sensation, she noticed her arm passing through her neighbor. Gaping a second, she quickly snatched her arm back and turned away from the offended member innocently. Scuttling up the stairs, she refused to look behind her. Was she the only one with a body in the afterlife? Looking around, she had noticed that the only ones with humanoid form were the several oni serving as guides. Self-consciously, she twitched, mindful not to "bump" into more of the other souls bound for the same place as her.

Once she had settled into her seat, she leaned back, staring at the ceiling of the passenger compartment. She wondered what device she was in. She had seen passing skycars through the village near her home, but nothing such as this giant bug looking thing. The oni had to reassure her repeatedly that it was not a monster intent upon eating her. Even so, she had to watch several of them go in and out of the "plane" before she considered doing so herself. She hoped the trip would be a short one.

Her thoughts shot ahead of her and her eyes lost their focus on the ceiling. Realization shot through her. She was dead. So was her family. Well, except Shiroi, but that was okay since their bond was still intact. At that thought, Kuroi frowned as she felt her twin's despair melting into her. Something was odd, however. There seemed to be a small hope echoing within Shiroi's soul. A tiny smile crept across Kuroi's lips. Yes, Shiroi was strong. She was certain Shi-chan would be fine knowing that she was still there in spirit. Again her thoughts wandered to her family and a giddy feeling was born in the pit of her stomach. It had been so long. She would finally be able to see her parents and little brother again! Pausing a moment to look at the floating blob of light next to her, she pondered this. ... Exactly how was she going to recognize her family again?

Turning away from what remained of her neighbor, she glanced out the window, and would have died of a heart attack were she not already dead. Was that the ground all the way down there?! Gripping the window pane tight enough to render her knuckles various shades of white and purple, her eyes widened as the ground grew further and further away, until its shape turned into a sphere, which then in turn, changed into a tiny speck. After a short while, only blackness and a few white dots she recognized as stars colored her vision. Feeling faint, she dropped her hands back to her lap, and wondered if she truly got on the transport for heaven rather than hell.

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In less than a minute, the drunkard was flat on his butt, rubbing his head and uncrossing his eyes, idly wondering what had just hit him. His companion thought this hilarious and roared with laugher so his 'friend' knew exactly how funny he found this. Spurred on by the mocking tone in the near-sobbing laughs, the officer found his footing and staggered upright. This time he was ready for anything that the little white-haired piece of-

He suddenly found her scowling visage in his face and bleated in surprise. Shiroi drove an unforgiving fist into his gut and watched impassively as the officer spilled all of the contents in his stomach on the sidewalk.

It took him a while, and just about the time Shiroi's lip was curling in disgust, he had caught his breath. He turned two brown, bloodshot glaring eyes up to lock with her black eyes, and spat a line of curses at her. Shiroi watched him if only mildly interested. He cursed foully again, and pulled himself upright with as much dignity as he could muster. _He's sober now_ Shiroi mentally mused almost giving into the temptation of smirking.

"I have a new wish." He announced his voice harsh. "Now I'm going to wish that you, you little vixen, are my love slave." Shiroi made a small sound of surprise and regarded the man as if he had sprouted a third eye. Then she crossed her arms and laughed to the sky.

"Oh my, now that is funny!"

The officer, having had enough with being laughed at for the night, balled his fists and lunged towards her. Shiroi's eyes widened in bone deep surprise as he punched her in the jaw. Shuffling backwards, the male glared at her, in a fighting stance. Touching her jaw, she flinched in pain. "That will teach me to never laugh unless my opponent is incapacitated." She softly told herself, a deep pain lancing in her chest as she touched the area when her sister had once resided so that she could share the bit of information with her twin. No one was there to back her up anymore. She then considered her said opponent with dangerous eyes. The male did not flinch. He remained stubbornly in his fighting stance, regarding her angrily.

Shiroi nodded at the man who squatted opposite her, in recognition of who he was: the enemy, and fell into a stance of her own. Determination set in. He never stood a chance, drunk or sober.

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Pale blue eyes snapped opened as she felt a lurch in her body. Sitting up as if awaking from a nightmare caused her neighbor to fling themselves in the opposite direction. The movement, having caught her eye, restated reality for Kuroi. Leaning back, she idly wondered when she had fallen asleep. Frowning slightly, she searched back for the reason she woke up. Raising her hand to her chest, her frown deepened. Why was there a stinging sensation?

Opening her mind, she searched for her twin and realization dawned upon her. _So that's it. Shiroi was trying to talk to me while I was asleep. She seems so determined right now. I wonder what she's up to._ Turning to her still trembling neighbor, she blinked.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just dreaming." Slowly, the blob of energy returned to its seat next to her.

"Don't you ever dream without nearly rekilling everyone around?"

Kuroi blinked again, and wondered how she should react to a genderless floating mass. They seemed decent enough. They must have been female in their lifetime. "Sorry again. Normally I sleep like a log, but my twin woke me up when she tried to talk to me."

If ever an energy ball could have an expression, it did now. "_Excuse_ me?"

"My twin. We can talk to each other through our minds if we concentrate enough."

"Oh." Silence. "Neat trick."

"Oh, it's not a trick, it's 'cuz we're twins."

"Oh, right." Silence. Kuroi looked up at the ceiling. _Okay, this person is a bit slow. Maybe I was wrong in thinking they were female._ The blob interrupted her thoughts. "You look like a fighter. Am I correct?"

_Hey, someone who knows a great fighter when they see one! I think this person might have been female after all!_ "Yea. I've been in training my entire life. My mother was a great amazon, and my father an even greater fighter to have beaten her in battle. What about you?" Kuroi blinked at the energy ball in front of her. It _was_ kind of difficult to tell anything about a person if they're nothing but misty light.

"Yes I was." Kuroi's interest was suddenly perked.

"Really?! How strong were you?!"

"By myself, I was nothing special." Kuroi's features obviously showed disappointment. "However, when I was fused with someone, my strength was immeasurable." Once again, Kuroi's interest rose.

"Fused? As in fighting as a team?"

A faint laugh emanated from her neighbor. "No, no, no. Fused, as in one person." Kuroi's eyes widened.

"One person? How is that possible?!"

"The Fusion Dance of course." Kuroi blinked after her eyes started getting excessively dry.

"Fu-sion Dan-ce?" Kuroi spoke slowly, not quite sure if she heard the mass correctly.

"Right. The Fusion Dance."

"And this makes you stronger?"

"It makes you more than stronger! It combines your strength and the strength of who you are fusing with and multiplies it. You become a fierce warrior."

Kuroi clamped her jaw shut after realizing how stupid she must look. "But," she started. "If you become one person, do you stay like that forever?"

"No, of course not! You unfuse later."

Kuroi's eyes sparkled and she smiled sweetly at the floating blob of energy.

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When her opponent was incapacitated, she turned to the lower ranking soldier. He flinched and, not looking forward to having his face smeared on the sidewalk, held up his hands in surrender. _Live to fight another day_, he told his pride, _Tangle with this she-cat and you will not be able to do much of anything_. Shiroi bore down on him nonetheless, her mood black.

She curled her fist in the collar of his clothes. "Now what's this of 'wishes'? What's this foolishness that you two were talking about?"

"Wishes?" He repeated feebly. _That's it!_ He chided himself cruelly, _go for the 'brainless-idiot' approach. That way she'll beat you for being stupid_. Shiroi's eyes narrowed. "Oh! The wishes! Every soldier of the Red Ribbon Army is promised a wish on the Legendary Dragon Balls once they enlist. It makes the soldiers more loyal if they are promised something in return." He breathed a sigh of relief as the hold on his collar loosened marginally.

"Dragon... Balls?" She asked, as if the words were foreign to her. He didn't doubt it. She looked a little...wild. She appeared as if she had been raised by wolves like that little boy in that story he was told as a child. For all he knew, she was fresh out of the woods, looking for a meal tonight.

"Yeah, you've never heard of them?" He ventured. Shiroi looked for a moment a little out of place, and, to the soldier, a bit more human. "Legend has it that once you collect the seven dragon balls, a dragon comes forth to answer any wish that your heart desires."

"Anything." Shiroi's throat had gone dry, heart pounding in her chest as a hope blossomed.

"The way I hear it." Slowly the soldier felt his courage returning. The more he spoke, the more she reacted, and the more she reacted, the more she let go of his shirt. Soon he could break free and run like mad.

"What if I wanted to wish someone from the dead?" The girl's black eyes fastened on him again, his courage retreating a few steps as her grip on him tightened.

"Sure." He offered jovially, shrugging as much as her grip would let him more to test her hold than to offer her a sense of comradery.

"Where are they?" Shiroi demanded, her other hand twisting into his cloth as if trying to squeeze the information out of him. The soldier's courage took a large dive at the desperation and wildness of her expression. The once cold female warrior, who had beaten the crap out of his higher-ranking companion, was now scarier with emotion.

"I-I don't know." He flinched as a hint of malice flickered across her face. "But we do have a Dragon Ball Radar!" He shouted, eyes screwing shut as if expecting a blow.

"What is a Dragon Ball Radar?" The soldier opened his eyes when the blow didn't come.

"It's a machine that tells you where the Dragon Balls are." He offered, wondering if he had any chance of surviving. She was about as unpredictable as a time bomb.

"Where is _that_?" She asked, a little impatiently. The soldier decided he did not want to make her impatient.

"At the Red Ribbon Base."

"Sniveling MALE! Where is that!?" Shiroi shouted, losing her temper. With effort she regained control of herself and took a deep cleansing breath. "Nevermind. Take me there." She thrust him away from her, and watched, once more impassive as he picked himself up unsteadily. "Forget about him." She told him as he glanced down at his fallen friend. "And forget about trying to escape. I can run a whole lot faster than you can."

The soldier didn't doubt her for a minute.


	3. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO: 

Kuroi held a self-satisfied smirk when she stepped off the 'plane'. Glancing behind her to make certain her newfound friend was still there, she continued onward. She hated being cooped up in that contraption, and until she spotted their destination outside the window, she feared she'd be stuck in there forever. Once she had neatly inserted a fair distance between her and that flying metal bug, she paused and took a deep breath.

"I talked to one of the Oni, and they told me that my group is in that direction." Kuroi glanced down at the blob she now envisioned as her friend.

"Wait a minute. We can't go there yet, I gotta find my family first!"

The mass fluctuated a moment, as if in irritation. "You aren't the only one who wants to see loved ones."

Kuroi twitched in irritation herself, trying to pretend Shiroi was there to calm her before she lost her temper again. "Maybe, but I haven't seen my entire family, except my twin, ever since I was little!"

Silence followed, which Kuroi interpreted as thinking. "Okay, but try not to take too long." The blob plopped down on the ground, as if sitting, and became motionless. "I'll wait for you here."

Kuroi blinked a few times. Slowly, a smile curled her lips. "Arigatou gozaimasu!" Turning on her heel, she ran in the direction the Oni had pointed her. About a hundred feet and a moment later, Kuroi paused. The spirit once again found her pale features in front of its own.

"_Yes_?"

Fidgeting a bit, she spoke. "Uhm... Could you tell me how I might be able to recognize my family when I see them? Won't they be nothing but floating spirit balls?"

A slight laughter could be heard echoing through the port. "Easy. You'll _know_ when you find them. If you wanted, you could relate it to that mind-talk thingamajig you were talking about earlier. When you get close, you'll know." Kuroi stood, nodding.

"Uhm. Okay. Thanks!" Turning once again, she headed in the opposite direction. _This blob thing is really weird, but at least I get to learn a neat trick from it. Might as well do what it says 'til then._ Determination marking her features, she set off to find her family.

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Shiroi raised an eyebrow at the ruins of a large I-shaped building. The top portion leaned heavily to the right and rested its weary load on a pillar that looked to be hastily created. She glanced at her guide.

"This is your 'Red Ribbon Base'? A run down old tower?" She snorted.

"What were you expecting? Did you think we'd work from a big, obvious, skyscraper with neon lights? Why not just scream from the roof 'come and get us'." He threw back, defensive. He then remembered to whom he was talking to when she narrowed her eyes at him. He transferred his glare to his headquarters, hoping that he wouldn't get into too much trouble for showing a civilian their hideout.

Shiroi threw an uncaring hand into the air and began walking towards the building. "Whatever. Just as long as the Dragon Ball Radar is in there."

The soldier remained planted to the ground in amazement. Only a moment before he was sure he wasn't going to come out of this adventure with his body intact, but here he was, unharmed, if a little pushed about. He'd made it through the storm that was the white haired warrior.

Hey, what was he, a bag of bricks? The soldier grew angered at his treatment, and planted fists on his hips, a look of anger crossing his features. The no good lousy vixen. How dare she treat her superiors that way!

The soldier took a moment to recollect his pride and in a dark mood at the high-handedness of the female, he stormed back to the tavern to check up on his commander.

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Being in the land of the dead gave Kuroi a feeling akin to seasickness. Everywhere she looked there were spirits. Large ones, small ones, bright ones, dim ones, those that hovered, those that appeared to be sitting on the ground. The worst were those that swirled around in psychedelic patterns, as if they were performing some sort of dance. If Kuroi's face could get any paler than it naturally was, it did. After mistaking a stranger for an Oni guide, she had discovered that there were, in fact, others like her who had kept their body in the afterlife. Apparently it was a privilege, which gave her an odd feeling of apprehension. She didn't look forward to when Shiroi would join her and have her body ripped from her again. She wasn't meant to be among those entitled.

Kuroi looked up, and found an appealing landscape before her. This reminds me of home, she mused. Ducking her head under a low branch of a nearby tree, she blinked as she found a solitary spirit sitting next to a lake. The Oni guide said my family would be somewhere around here. Maybe this.. blob knows where they are. At this, she started picking her way closer. Halfway through a particularly thick cover of bush, an alien thought flew through her.

Who dares tread here!

The intensity and strangeness of it all took her completely by surprise, resulting in a non-ceremonious introduction to the ground on Kuroi's part. No one had ever spoken in her mind, save for Shiroi! Raising her head, sticks and leaves sticking out of her hair, she peered over the bush. And found a dangerously glowing spirit hovering in her face. Kuroi's mouth flapped, no sound coming out. She had never met an angry spirit before either! Slowly, the glow faded, and it backed up a few paces, as if confused. Kuroi blinked, her senses beginning to reform.

"I was just going to ask you a question!" she sputtered. "No need to be so rude!" Kuroi scowled fiercely, surmising that this spirit was decidedly male in their lifetime.

"Is that really you, Kuroi?" Kuroi blinked again. The voice was feminine. Familiar. And not from the spirit in front of her. Tilting her head, she looked around her attacker, and found the one she spotted earlier still by the lake, hovering slightly. "You're too young to be dead!"

Realization started dawning upon her as her eyes moved to her attacker. "Teddy?"

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Though the Red Ribbon Base was run down, it was still large, and incredibly well kept (for abandoned building) once you reached the inside. Ducking into a fourth room, Shiroi pulled out the drawers to a desk sitting proudly in the middle of an otherwise empty room, shifting the contents about in a half-hearted search for the Dragon Ball Radar. Coming up empty she peered under the desk, and then scoured the room for other such places to hide things. Namely, a place to put Dragon Ball Radars.

Shiroi had rummaged through twenty desks, and a least twenty-eight different rooms, all of them lacking the Radar, by the time she felt her patience begin to wane. Maybe she should have dragged the male in with her.

What did a Dragon Ball Radar look like, anyway?

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Kuroi's eyes started shining as emotion overcame them and she lunged forward; and landed flat on her face. She sat up, rubbing her nose, wondering how she got there instead of in her father's arms. A glance behind her told her why. So overcome with happiness at finding the parents she hadn't seen in years, she had forgotten they no longer had bodies.

The blob she lunged for tsked and made a chastising movement. "Ku-chan, Ku-chan, Ku-chan. I'm gone for only a few years and you've already lost all sense of balance. That's twice you've fallen on your face in less than five minutes. I certainly hope your training hasn't suffered similarly." The spirit hovered closer and seemed to be inspecting her. "Heheh. You certainly have turned into quite a looker. If you weren't my daughter-"

SMACK!

Kuroi blinked as her father's spirit went tumbling into the bush she recently vacated. Turning her head, she could see her mother dangerously glowing near her. "Kuma." Her voice held a familiar warning tone that Kuroi never knew she would miss of her mother.

"O-...okaa-san!" Liquid eyes regarded her mother. "I've missed you both so much! Oh, it was so horrible after the fire! Shi-chan and I couldn't do anything for days, and then burying your ashes...!" Kuroi lost all conformity in that moment. Kuma lumbered back to the pair, grumbling under his breath.

"Did you really hafta hit me so hard?! I was only looking!" A sizable spot near the top of the spirit had a faint red color to it, and Kuroi guessed it had to be where Tsurara had smacked him. "Besides," he sidled up a bit too close to her. "You're the only one for me."

This elicited a less violent, yet still notable whack from Tsurara. "You're supposed to say 'I was only kidding'!" Kuroi blinked at the exchange, a smile tugging at her lips. They hadn't changed. After all this time, they were still her parents; the ones she remembered.

"Anou, okaa-san?" Her parents' bickering paused as Tsurara turned her attentions to her daughter. "How come you can do that?"

"Do what?"

Kuroi pointed. "That. When I accidentally touched one of the spirits, my arm just passed through them."

"Only spirits and those who work in the afterworld can touch a person's soul."

Kuroi's face made a motion of recognition despite the fact that she didn't understand a word her mother just said. Kuma was quick to pick up on Kuroi's mindset. "She means you can't touch a spirit with a body, and since you have one, you can't touch one."

Her eyes lit up at the understanding and nodded slightly. "OH! I see." She faintly mourned that fact, since she truly wanted to hug her family. Soon, she reminded herself. After Shi-chan joins us, our whole family can be together again.

"Why are you here? What about Shiroi?" Tsurara asked, startling Kuroi out of her thoughts.

"Oh, some misfit male attacked me on my blind side and had the nerve to use a weapon when I was unarmed." She slightly bent the truth with that statement. She did have a knife, but it wasn't in her hands. Kuroi mentally growled at herself. She had been taken by surprise, despite the fact that she had heard them coming. She never imagined she would die in such an unhonorable way and hoped the yarou was the first in line for hell. "Shi-chan had just come back from the village, when it happened. She's the one who gave that kisama what he deserved."

"So she's still alive." Kuroi nodded. "We don't have to look for her yet."

"On my way here, I met a blob that said they would teach me how to do something called the 'Fusion Tango', so I gotta go. I'll be back soon, though." Kuroi's eyes looked around at the surrounding landscape. "Where's Aka-chan? I wanted to say hi to him too before I left."

Kuma's spirit fluctuated, while Tsurara's seemed to harden. It was Kuma who spoke. "We haven't found him yet. The Oni guides haven't been much help, either. All they told us was that it was common for spirits to get lost, and for Aka-chan, being such a young spirit, it was much more likely for him to lose his way than most."

Kuroi's brow furrowed. "I'll be sure to look for him."

Kuma's spirit visibly relaxed. "Come back soon, Ku-chan. We have too much to catch up on." She smiled at her father, and despite the fact that her mother hadn't said anything, she knew she too was curious about the years lost between them.

"I will, Teddy." Raising a hand in farewell, a pang rising in her heart again because of her inability to hug her parents, she began her trek back to where her alien friend was waiting.

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Shaku pounded a curled fist on the arm of his throne and cursed violently. His eyes were riveted to the monitors of the large security machine in front of him, sitting silently against the wall. Cameras one through six and eight through ten showed nothing, but camera seven showed the movement of a figure viewed from above rummaging through one of his high-ranking officer's desk.

He'd watched her progression farther into his lair with a suspicious intensity. Was this girl here to steal is Dragon Ball Radar? Everyone wanted his precious treasure, and he wasn't going to give it to anyone; it was his and his alone! Shaku glowered at the figure as she proceeded to walk off of camera seven's screen and onto camera eight's. A thought occurred to him. If she was here for his Dragon Ball Radar, then she knew how it worked.

Shaku hastily pulled an eye-patch out of his pocket, fit it over his head, and jumped down from his throne. A wicked smile graced his face as he dashed forward and out of the door, his black boots clacking loudly on the concrete floor. First the threat was a predator and now the nosy white-haired figure was the prey.

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"Took long enough," the blob grumbled as Kuroi appeared.

"I didn't know where to find them!" Kuroi shot back in defense. "Besides, I didn't even get to talk to my entire family, just my parents." Kuroi's mood had been sour because of this. She missed her parents, true, but she missed her brother more. He was always fun to tease, no matter how much trouble she would get into.

"Well, let's just get going. We're more behind than I though we would be." Twitching, the spirit rose from the ground and hovered away, expecting Kuroi to follow. After a moment, she did so, mouth slightly curved in a scowl. She was not in a good mood, and if anyone approached her, she was likely to explode at them. She hated being talked down to, especially by a near stranger, but this spirit held a secret she wanted to know. Biting down on her pride, she followed, once again wishing Shiroi were there to keep her temper in check.

Hoping to distract herself, she turned her gaze outward, watching the horizon. If Akai was anywhere near, he would recognize her and come flying. She grinned at the thought, imagining an Akai spirit glomming onto her leg. She had to keep an eye out for any blobs acting out of the norm. She promised her parents to look for him, and planned to keep that promise.

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Shiroi whirled around as a noise caught her attention. She lowered her body into a cautious fighting stance as the sound persisted and grew louder. Hopefully whoever was coming her way would know something more than her guide and point her in the right direction of the Dragon Ball Radar.

The racing steps slowed and halted before the door, just out of view and Shiroi waited patiently.

Eventually a young, man with slicked back red hair an eye-patch covering his right eye stepped into the room, and stood regally before Shiroi, gazing down his nose at her, his uncovered eye glaring daggers.

"Tell me how to use the Dragon Ball Radar," the man demanded as Shiroi decided that he was used to using his mouth instead of his fists. His outfit was nicely kept, had nary a wrinkle anywhere, and was made of expensive-looking material as was the cape that fell elegantly to the floor from the clasps on the shoulder of his shirt. No real fighter wore a cape. It became a weapon the second the warrior began a fight. Shiroi straightened slowly, her face carefully schooled.

"Give me the Dragon Ball Radar," Shiroi demanded with the same amount of command that the male in front of her used. The man narrowed his eyes and reassessed Shiroi.

"I see," the man announced, his voice deepening to the point of strain. Shiroi raised an eyebrow.

"Do you?" Crossing her arms, she stared into the man's uncovered eye.

Shaku frowned heavily and remained still for a moment, measuring his choices.

Sighing dramatically Shaku reached into the chest of his outfit and pulled out an enlarged pocket watch with a flourish. With a trembling lip Shaku handed the contraption to Shiroi and then looked pleadingly up at her, his left eye misting. "I do. You are a much better ma- woman than I am. I have no choice but to give you my treasure."

Shiroi smirked. This fink was up to something. Hardly a minute passed when a male wasn't up to something. Keeping her eyes locked on her enemy, waiting for a motion to give him away, she reached out a tanned hand and curled her fingers around as much of the Radar as she could. Finally, Kuroi would return to her and everything would be all right again.

Shiroi turned on her heel and waved to the red-haired man. "Thanks. I'll be going now."

Shaku's misty eye flashed in triumph and leaping a foot backwards he brandished a large gun from the depths of his cape. Training the barrel on Shiroi's frozen back Shaku smirked. "Not so fast. That Radar is mine no matter who holds it. You show me how to use it and I might feel generous enough to give you your life as the reward. If not, then I'll just have to find someone else more willing with the information."

Shiroi slowly lowered her arm and left it limp at her side. She could outfight men, but bullets were another matter altogether. Turning to face the gun (if she did end up picking a fight with the gun, she was not going to be shot in the back like a coward), Shiroi blinked slowly, her face not giving away the thoughts rushing through her head.

"I don't know how the Dragon Ball Radar works," she confessed. "What would be the point of killing me for information that I don't have."

"Liar! You came for the Dragon Ball Radar; you know! You're just trying to mess with my mind!"

Shiroi's body straightened her eyes cold. "I don't lie."

Suddenly Shaku yanked his gun to point behind him as a tall man wearing orange and blue walked aimlessly into the room.

"Hi. Did I come at a bad time?"

Shaku gasped, his gun faltering as his single eye lit up in recognition. "YOU!"

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When still alive, Kuroi didn't know whether or not to believe in aliens. When she had died, she still hadn't been sure, but now, looking around her, was solid proof of their existence. At least in the afterworld. Her blob friend told her that its species was relatively peaceful, yet they were still a warrior race. Many retained their bodies, she noticed, as there seemed to be hundreds, possibly more of the aliens swarming around her. When she first saw one, and before her friend could tell her otherwise, she thought it was a stray monster from hell.

Not knowing how to react to these beings, she remained silent, not particularly favoring a conversation with the overly tall aliens. It was more than their height that intimidated her. Intimidated her! They seemed to have no gender about them. Every one of them looked the same, not fitting into any stereotype Kuroi could think of. Genderless, perhaps? How do they have kids? Not only that, but they weren't the prettiest aliens this side of the galaxy, either. I'm glad I'm human, Kuroi thought, lip twitching as one nearly brushed her shoulder. Please tell me I don't have to touch any of them to learn this 'Fusion Tango'!

Blinking as she remembered, she turned to her blob friend. She found it happily carrying on a rather animated conversation with another of its kind. "Oi."

Jumping as if poked by a scalding iron, the blob turned its attention to Kuroi. "Don't scare me like that! Can't you see I was in the middle of a conversation? Didn't your parents ever teach you to not interrupt people?"

Kuroi blinked at him blankly. "No. They taught me how to fight."

"..." The blob twitched in irritation. "Nevermind. What do you want?"

"You said you'd teach me the 'Fusion Tango'."

The blob stared at her for a moment before beginning to laugh. Kuroi shifted quietly, wondering if the blob was going to keep its word. Just as she was beginning to feel the last shred of her dignity and patience fade away, it spoke. "'Fusion DANCE'. I've never heard of anyone refer to it as a 'tango' before."

Kuroi twitched at her mistake, willing all her strength into keeping her mouth shut. I will not yell at it, I will not yell at it. If you do, you will never get to learn this technique. After a calming breath Kuroi had seen Shiroi do before, she spoke, her voice strained, and obviously holding something back. "You said you would teach it to me."

If a spirit could grin, it was doing so now. "Yes, I did, didn't I?" Again, Kuroi wondered if it would keep its word. "Follow me." An illy disguised sigh of relief passed her lips as she turned to follow it, and if one listened closely, you could hear muttering coming from her direction.

It led her to an open area; an ideal place for training, Kuroi noted. In the middle, she noticed a gathering of several aliens, all of which had bodies. An involuntary shudder traveled down her spine. I'm gunna hafta touch these guys won't I?! The group's conversation quieted down as the pair approached, and they turned to address the newcomers.

"Is that you, Lavu?!" one of the aliens asked. Kuroi looked down to the blob next to her. Lavu? What kind of name is that?! "I was wondering when you'd pop up here!"

"Heheh. I like to keep you surprised." The blob moved closer, the others chiming in their own greetings. Kuroi cleared her throat, reminding everyone of her presence. "Oh! This here is Kuroi. She comes from a place called Chikyuu." A timid hand rose in a slight wave. "I brought her here since she wants to learn the 'Fusion Dance'."

A surprised noise came from one of the larger aliens. "Oh?! We had someone else pass through here from Chikyuu. Teaching him the 'Fusion Dance' was easy, so I don't see any problem with taking a new student."

Kuroi's lips curled upward into a smirk. She had been disappointed to not find any evidence of her brother around, and now she could take out her frustrations. Okay, not only do I get to learn a new technique which promises to make me stronger, I get to beat someone up! I think I can handle touching these guys after all.

Her blob friend moved, distancing himself slightly from the group. "Well, I would love to stay and chat, but I have some family to find. I'll be back soon." The group nodded and shooed him off, throwing farewells at his disappearing form before turning their attentions to their newly acquired student.

A heavy feeling started bearing down on Kuroi as she looked up into the faces of these excruciatingly tall aliens. My, it's suddenly getting stuffy around here... At this, her lessons began.

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Gokuu blinked and made small noise of confusion. "Me?"

Shaku shook violently, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Yes, you! You're the bakayaro who defeated my father the esteemed former-leader of the Red Ribbon Army."

Gokuu considered this for a while. "Who?"

"My father the Red Sousui! Red hair," He pulled at his own slicked back hair, "eye patch," Shaku yanked at the patch obscuring his right eye. "Remember?"

Gokuu didn't remember. "Who?"

"My father explained that you were a little slow," Shaku told himself, looking unimpressed by the spike-haired warrior in front of him. So far all he'd proven to be is a complete idiot for not remembering a man like his father. "But, I won't underestimate you." Shaku paced in front of Shiroi and Gokuu, waving his gun in the air.

Shiroi rolled her eyes and began a thorough investigation of the Dragon Ball Radar. Gokuu bent over to look as well. Shiroi made a small noise and scowled at him, pulling the Radar closer to her chest. Gokuu blinked at her, confused. Shiroi stood straighter and clutched the Radar until her knuckles were white out of sight behind her thigh. Gokuu shrugged, hooked his thumbs in his belt and watched Shaku pace for a while.

Shaku continued, oblivious to them. "No, I won't be as stupid as that. Son Gokuu's been able to defeat everyone that we've thrown at him: the capable whatshisface... that large guy with the spiky hair... numerous cyborgs..." Shaku smirked and stared at the wall, his arms crossing. "Although I wasn't surprised that Dr. Gero failed..."

Gokuu's face lit up. "Oh, yeah, Dr. Gero!"

Shaku's eyes narrowed. He could remember that moronic mad scientist and forget his father!? "He's a disgrace to the Red Ribbon Army!" Shaku announced, throwing his arms into the air, his face livid. "None of his cyborgs worked although he insisted that 'this one will do the trick'. There were more duds that blew up during the testing phase than there were serviceable ones! And then he'd snivel and mumble big words at my face and smirk behind my back - I could feel him do it!" Shaku punched a finger in Gokuu direction for emphasis. " 'I'm sorry, but the blablabla is blablablaing the blabla.' Yeah, well, I'll blablabla your blabla you worthless wretch!" Shaku told the invisible Gero whom only he could see.

Shiroi, tired of the wired redhead, walked calmly towards the door, intent on figuring out the contraption in her hands outside and away from these males. Shaku spotted her and leveled the nozzle of the gun at her chest. "Not so fast." Shiroi skidded to a stop, her hands above her shoulders in surrender though her face remained expressionless. "Where do you think you are going with my treasure?"

"Outside." She informed him, sliding her gaze up and down his frame, disinterested. "The air in here is stifling."

Shaku gestured towards Gokuu with his gun. Shiroi returned to stand beside the curious male who was more or less watching her with interest instead of Shaku who held a gun trained on the both of them.

"Is that all you do?" She asked peevishly. She slowly raised an eyebrow as she realized he was watching her with consideration. Gokuu blinked and the innocent with no thoughts returned.

"What?"

"Stand around and stare and agitate the short-fused red head? Is that all you do? You could have done something when his attention was on me."

Gokuu shrugged it off as unimportant. Shiroi bit down on her own agitation and turned to find Shaku inches from her.

Smoothly, Shaku plucked the Dragon Ball Radar out of Shiroi's hand and took off and out of the door.

"H....HEY!" Shiroi shouted after a moment of shock. She whirled around to growl at the useless male beside her. "Why didn't you warn me?!"

"You were too busy yelling at me."

Shiroi was already racing after Shaku and her Dragon Ball Radar.

"You wouldn't have listened. Chichi never does."

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Kuroi wasn't too fond of being left alone with a group of aliens. At least with the blob around, she knew someone. Granted she'd only known the irritating thing for a short while, but it was something familiar to latch onto. Not even the scenery was what Kuroi was used to. The sky still had the same golden glow as everywhere else in heaven, but the landscape took on a new character. Giant trees, if you could call them trees, stared down at her, even from hundreds of feet away. An odd, squishy moss took the place of grass, and held an odd shade of purple. Kuroi most definitely did not want to see what these aliens' home planet looked like.

"So your name is Kuroi?" one of the beings asked her. She nodded mutely. "And you come from Chikyuu?" Another silent nod. "I've heard great things about that planet. The man who was here before told us the greatest stories. A great fighter he was."

Kuroi's interest was perked. Great fighter? A male? "Was he, now? Surely he couldn't be that strong. He's male, after all."

One of the aliens laughed, pricking at her pride. What was with this race and laughing at her?! "Oh, he was strong, indeed. Near as I can recall, not many people from Chikyuu keep their bodies in the afterlife. Only the very strongest are given that privilege, which means he was among the strongest of all your race."

Kuroi's eyes narrowed slightly in thought. Strongest, eh? "Where is this man, then? He'd be a great sparring partner." Oh, she planned to show these dolts what strong was all about.

A slight murmur traveled through the group. Almost hesitantly, one of them spoke up. "We don't know. He was a fighting genius, the most powerful warrior we had ever met. He was very interested in our way of fighting, and we did manage to teach him the Fusion Dance, but he never showed up again after he left one day. No one knows where he vanished to, and some are spreading rumors that he's among the land of the living again."

Kuroi smirked, biting back a laugh. "Oh, that's a typical male for you. Won't finish anything they started."

The alien who spoke earlier regarded her. "Well, I don't know about your planet's customs, so I can't really judge. Anyway," the alien said as it approached her. "I'm guessing you'd like to go on ahead and start learning the Fusion Dance." She nodded, once again silent. "Well then, let's not waste any time!"

Kuroi smirked once again, focusing her attention solely on the alien in front of her. Learning time.


	4. Chapter Three

**CHAPTER THREE:**

Gokuu stared at the doorway that the white haired girl had just ran out of in concentration. Hitting a fisted hand into the palm of the other, Gokuu's expression lit up in recognition. The girl with the Dragon Ball Radar was the girl that he'd heard screaming while training Uubu a few weeks ago! He was sure of it!

That hurtle passed, Gokuu trotted out of the door and in the direction of the yelling and shuffling. He shuffled into a large room with a tall throne resting on a landing of a single flight of stairs behind two struggling figures. Gokuu raised his eyebrows in curiosity as he noticed that Shiroi was wrestling with the bulkier male and faring well.

Shiroi pinned Shaku's arms at his sides and yanked the Dragon Ball Radar out of his grubby little hands, crying out in triumph. Furious, Shaku freed a hand and searched in his cape for his gun. Just as Shiroi was about to ease to her feet, Shaku pressed the mouth of the gun to her temple, a wicked smirk on his face. His left hand beckoned her to give the Radar back.

Both Shaku and Shiroi gaped as a hand easily plucked the gun out of Shaku's grasp and crushed it. Gokuu's visage was dangerous as he dropped the ruined gun onto the floor. "You do that too much. A gun is not a toy."

Shaku's face reddened, his mouth opening and closing, his left eye wide. Gokuu grew concerned. "Oi, daijobu ka? Are you okay? You look like you're choking?" Gokuu enthusiastically slapped the sputtering male on his back. Shoving Gokuu's hand away, and elbowing Shiroi aside, Shaku bolted for the door, his heels clicking rapidly in his retreat.

Gokuu blinked in confusion at the door, a hand sheepishly tucked behind his head.

Shiroi huffed and slowly stood, brushing dirt from her shorts and tank top. "You're not like other men, are you?" She asked, her hard black eyes glaring into Gokuu's soft, curious ones.

"Ara... What do you mean?" Gokuu tilted his head slightly to one side.

Shiroi blinked slowly. "You don't have to play dumb with me. I watched you crush a gun in your hand. You're either incredibly strong or not human. I'm voting for not human, seeing as how my sister," she hesitated for a moment, "and I have prided ourselves in training heavily for the Tenkaichi Bodokai. We're strong, but we can't crush metal."

Gokuu decided that remaining silent was the best choice.

Shiroi smirked. "I see that I'm correct in my assumptions. You're not human are you?"

Gokuu investigated the floor with enthusiasm.

Seeing as how she was on her own in figuring out his origin, Shiroi crossed her arms in concentration.

"You're Kami aren't you?"

Gokuu nearly fell flat on his face onto the floor. He was about to insist otherwise when Shiroi shook her head. "No, you're too... air-headed... to be Kami. An angel?" She shook her head another time. "No wings...A demi-god, then? Or maybe a tribal god of mom's old clan?" She gauged Gokuu's reactions to each guess and decided that no matter how air-headed this... godly being was, he wouldn't give away his secret.

Shiroi shrugged. "Anyway, I need that Dragon Ball Radar to get Kuroi back. The male thinks that I know something about it, which I don't, but that serves me."

"I do." Gokuu volunteered, happy that the subject had been changed.

Shiroi's eyes bugged out. "You do?" Gokuu nodded, a charming grin gracing his face.

"Does the male know that?" Shiroi asked cautiously. Gokuu blinked, and pondered this. Shiroi shook her head. "No, he doesn't. Okay, this works..." Shiroi crossed her arms again, her brows drawing downwards as she thought.

"Anno, the guy is coming back," Gokuu announced. "With reinforcements."

Shiroi's head jerked up and she glanced at the door. The empty door. "How do you know?" She asked suspiciously.

"I can hear them."

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"You expect me to do _what?_" Kuroi stared at the aliens as if they were ... well, _aliens_. When her father was still alive, he had taught her some strange things, but this was absurd. As it's name suggested, the Fusion Dance was more suited to a ballroom than in a battle. Kuroi was most definitely _not_ big on dancing.

The lead alien who called him-... _it_self 'Moltan' looked at Kuroi. Something is its gaze told her that it didn't quite grasp the sarcasm in her previous statement. "It's easy, really, once you get the hang of it. What part did you not understand? I want to make sure you know everything before you practice it yourself."

"_What_?!" Kuroi's self-control was beginning to slip. Where these aliens making fun her?! _Shi-chan, where are you when I need you?_ Sighing deeply, she spoke, exercising tremendous control over her temper. "Okay, look. I came here to learn a technique your little friend back there told me about. Why don't you just teach it to me, and everything will be happy? I didn't come here to learn how to _dance_!"

Taken aback, Moltan stared down at the irritated human. "But we **are** teaching you."

Kuroi's lip twitched. "If you expect me to believe that moronic dance is supposed to make me or anyone else stronger, then you are sorely mistaken!"

To Kuroi's surprise, Moltan smiled. "You're right." Kuroi blinked, a bit confused at the change of tone. "We should have shown you what the Fusion Dance can do before just teaching it to you." Kuroi's eyes narrowed marginally, wondering if the aliens were up to something.

Moltan and a fellow alien, walking a fair distance back, began their moves. Kuroi watched, anticipation washing over her despite the skepticism in her heart. As their fingers touched at the end of the dance, light spilled everywhere, temporarily blinding her. Lowering the hand that had attempted to shield her eyes, she stared, mouth swinging open. Standing in the two aliens' place was now one. Its attire resembled neither of the other aliens. Instead, it sported a completely new outfit, consisting of a black, vest-like top with yellow trim, loose, white pants, a long, flowing belt and shoes similar to her mother's.

"Wh-... Where'd you come from? What happened to Moltan and Volka?" Kuroi stumbled over her own words.

"I am neither Moltan or Volka. I am Molka." The alien's voice coursed through her, startling her at its intensity. Something was strange about it, however, banishing all suspicions Kuroi might have held about this unusual character. This.. _being_ was the result of Moltan and Volka fusing, no doubt about it. If they could fuse in the first place, something previously beyond Kuroi's realm of belief, she no longer questioned whether or not their strength increased with the fusion. All she wanted now was to master this technique, and would do anything, even setting aside her pride, to do so.

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_Yes_, Shiroi thought, _this one isn't human. He... hears things..._ Shiroi raised an eyebrow. "Another godly perk? How many reinforcements?"

Gokuu shrugged. "A lot."

Shiroi was about to ask exactly how much _he_ considered a lot when she noticed the noise. It grew in volume within moments, and Shiroi just had enough time to lunge backwards as a cannon attached to a tank bulldozed through the door Gokuu and Shiroi were standing in front of.

Two more tanks followed as well as a small army of men on foot. Shiroi stood quickly and faced the advancing chaos with the calm and serenity she employed in a fight, full aware that the odds were stacked up against her. She would die fighting then. _Ku-chan_, she thought as she dodged a punch and disabled a man pointing a gun at her,_ I may be joining you in heaven instead of you joining me on Chikyuu._

Gokuu easily knocked the fighters off of their feet and caught the bullets fired at him. He ripped the cannon off each of the tanks, and then glanced over at Shiroi's progress. He smiled in appreciation of her fighting-spirit, and even fancied the thought of sparring with her just to see how well she would do. His smile faltered and drew into a frown as he recognized her fighting style. _I've seen that style before, but where?..._ He mused as he neatly jumped out of the way of a screaming soldier, and punched him to the ground.

Shaku began to note his losses when half of his army was groaning and bemoaning their defeat amongst the rubble on the floor, the other half cowering behind his destroyed tanks. _At least I have my precious treasure_, he told himself. Shaku took a deep breath, quite firmly told his pride to go to hell, and screamed "RETREAT" at the top of his lungs. All of the men that could eagerly scrambled out of the building to lick their wounds in peace.

Shaku threw a few choice swear words and a solemn promise to return and defeat them once and for all over his shoulder and he ran after his men.

Shiroi smirked. "At least he screams like a female."

Gokuu regarded her with his usual innocent curiosity, searching her for wounds. Shiroi noticed his attention and caught his eyes, her gaze wary. "You are definitely not human. Two people against a small army armed with three tanks and a gun for every man are not very favorable odds, yet both of us are still alive. The tanks are destroyed and the army retreated. They were literally shaking in their boots!"

"You're hurt." Gokuu interrupted.

Shiroi stiffened, her pride pricked. "I'm not godly like you and a couldn't avoid one trigger happy male's bullet nor the knife his friend had. I'll live."

Gokuu's expression lost its innocence. "You're very strong." Shiroi was surprised how much that small praise made her wounds disappear. Somehow she felt honored that a man of this strength, this much battle prowess was patting her on the back.

"Are you sure you aren't Kami?"

Gokuu shook his head. "Iie," he perked suddenly, "but I know him!"

"Why am I not surprised..." Shiroi shook her head, then stilled, her black eyes wide in despair. "The Dragon Ball Radar!" She groaned. "The red-head got away with it!"

"_What's that?!_" Gokuu shouted so loudly that the randomness caused Shiroi to whirl around to face the direction he was pointing in.

She searched the horizon and the sky for an inkling of what could have caught Gokuu's attention. Disappointed and wondering about the male's eyesight, Shiroi turned back around to glare at him. "What, I don't see anything..."

Gokuu looked so happy with himself that for a moment Shiroi was convinced that he wasn't all there. "My eyes must be playing tricks on me, gomen nasai." He pulled his hands out from behind his back, presenting the beaten, white haired girl with a surprise.

Shiroi's eyes couldn't have gotten wider. Then suddenly the surprise and awe was gone, to be replaced by blistering anger. "**Why didn't you do that an _hour_ ago!?**"

Shiroi ignored the faint, familiar, feminine scream of frustration echoing through the trees and snatched the Dragon Ball Radar out of Gokuu's open hands. "You could have saved both of us a lot of sweat and blood, nowtellmehowtousethisthing." Shiroi curled around the Dragon Ball Radar, looking everything like a possessive, wild animal. Gokuu feared for his hand if he were to actually reach for the Radar, so he hooked his thumbs on his belt and nodded towards the machine.

"Push the button on the top." She did so, and with a squeak of surprise, Shiroi threw the Radar up and away from her. Gokuu hastily caught Bulma's invention; years of yelling and screaming from her drummed into his head that breaking the Dragon Ball Radar was a bad thing.

"Is that what it's supposed to do? Come alive at the push of that button?" Shiroi gasped, her eyes still riveted to the Radar.

"Hai. And according to the Radar, there's a Dragon Ball really close."

"Really, how close?"

"About ten miles that way." He pointed confidently to the west. Shiroi gauged how long it would have taken her to get that far uninjured, and then calculated how long it would take her with an enter and exit bullet hole in her thigh and a knife gash in her upper arm. The arm was easily taken care of; a strip of cloth wound tightly on the wound, but her thigh was a different matter. She was about to ask Gokuu if there was a doctor of some sort that she could get to close by when he yelled.

"_Kintoun!_"

A yellow cloud zipped down from the skies and skidded to a halt in front of a happy Gokuu. _He's got Kami written all over him..._ Shiroi stared, openly gawked at the male that had surprised and stolen her of her dignity more in the last hour than ever in her entire life. She nearly fell flat on her face when he gestured to the cloud.

"This is Kintoun. He's my cloud. Hop on, it'll be faster this way." Gokuu then plopped down on a side of the cloud and held out his hand to help her aboard.

"You want me to get on a yellow cloud?" Shiroi asked skeptically. She took his hand reluctantly. Hell, this one male had proved everything else that she'd ever learned from her life so far wrong, what was riding on a yellow cloud compared to the rest of today? Gokuu's visage sobered as he was reminded of her injuries by her wincing while she moved closer.

"First we need to visit someone." He assured her as he easily pulled her onto the cloud. Shiroi waited a few moments, waiting to fall through the 'cloud' but nothing happened and she relaxed. Gokuu then pointed Kintoun to the sky, and the cloud lurched forward with incredible speed.

Shiroi's scream was snatched from her mouth by the wind.

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After having seen the results of the Fusion Dance, and confident that the effects were not permanent after Moltan and Volka returned from their mysterious fusion, Kuroi was certain she would have no more qualms about performing such a ridiculous move. This said nothing about how _stupid_ she felt, however. Time and again the aliens tried to show her how to do the dance, and time and again there was always something she was doing wrong. After about an hour, they had decided to take a break. Some muscles in her legs were beginning to cramp, and she was getting fidgety doing the same thing for such a long time. She had all but hugged the aliens at the mention of a break, and now she was wandering around the strange place they called home.

Now that she was a bit more comfortable around the strangers, she fell into old habits, talking to anyone she felt like. She had found out a lot of information about the alien race this way, such as there _were_ no genders among their kind. Their race once was divided into two distinct genders, but after several conflicts and problems that could never be solved, they had evolved into gender-less beings. Kuroi couldn't help but smirk. This is how humans _should_ be. No males around to dilute the quality of life.

They called themselves the 'Faia', a race in the far southern part of the galaxy. Wherever that was, anyway. Their planet was large, as well. So large that the gravity was intense and heat emitted from the core all the way to the surface. According to their hypothesis, the planet had fallen short of turning into a star. They had related it to Jupiter from Kuroi's solar system, but being unlearned in such things, Kuroi just nodded and pretended to understand.

Kuroi's main intention during her break was to search for her brother. These aliens were well acquainted with heaven, and seemed to know practically everybody. Hoping one of them knew Akai, she asked every Faiajin she could find, and to her disappointment, none had even come close to an encounter with her brother. Heavy in the heart, but still eager for training, Kuroi returned to the clearing, ready to test her patience again. At least she had a place to vent her frustrations. Taking a deep breath, Kuroi again set out on her task to master the Fusion Dance.

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She was still screaming when Gokuu addressed a green and pink being with antenna and "Kami" printed on the front of a white toga. Gokuu turned to her and grinned. "_This_ is Kami."

Shiroi blinked at 'Kami'. "Is he sick? He's awfully green..."

Dende laughed while Gokuu rapidly waved his arms. "Be a little more respectful!" Gokuu whispered.

"No, Shiroi, I'm a Namekkian. I come from another planet."

Shiroi's eyes were as round as saucers. "He knows my name..." She whispered, awed. "Do you know my sister? Is she okay? Is she here?"

Dende laughed again and opened his mouth to reply.

"If you're Kami, this is heaven, right? This is kinda small... How do all of the dead people fit in here? Where is everyone? This isn't a very heavenly heaven. Shouldn't there be more plants or something?"

Gokuu enthusiastically waved her to be silent, making shushing noises. Shiroi limped towards Dende and touched his toga. "Is this real? What is this made of, clouds or something? Ha, no, I rode here on a cloud, if this was made of clouds, you'd be floating." She lifted his toga with her uninjured arm. "Nope, you're on the ground. Are you green all over?" Shiroi lifted the toga higher before Gokuu hastily yanked it from her hand and dropped the hem. "Your antenna are real, right? Weird, it feels like silk. Does all of you feel like that? Is that a godly thing?" Shiroi ran her hand over the beaming Kami's face and made to venture lower, but Gokuu snatched her hands away, murmuring apologies to Dende. Dende shook his head, enjoying Shiroi's company. "If that's a godly thing then why do _you_ have so many calluses?" Gokuu blinked and dropped her hands. "If you're both gods, you're brothers, right? How come one of you is green and the other is normal?" Shiroi received no answer, just the stares of two surprised males.

Shiroi took a deep breath and looked Dende straight in the eye. "I've made a fool of myself, haven't I?"

It took Dende a full minute to express his mirth. At first Shiroi was sure he was laughing at her.

"No, you haven't. You've just asked a lot of questions. All of which, I can answer. Yes, I do know your sister. Yes, she is okay. No, she isn't here." Shiroi's eyes widened.

"She didn't do anything bad, so why isn't she here? If either of us did anything bad, it was me for murdering her killer." Dende's expression softened to one of compassion.

"Revenge isn't good, but you're heart is still pure. You acted out of love and sorrow. You can be forgiven. Right now the three - four if you count Mister Popo back there," he gestured to a short black ball that turned into a man when she squinted. "Mister Popo" was busy watering a pine tree behind them, who turned and waved. Shiroi hesitantly waved back. Dende continued, "are standing on Kami's Lookout, which is not heaven. That is why Kuroi isn't here." Shiroi nodded. "As for plants, Mister Popo is planning on adding a flower garden pretty soon."

Yes, my robe is real and it's made out of cotton just like your clothes. Yes, I'm green all over, but I have some pink on me as well." Shiroi's mouth twitched and Dende smiled. "My antenna _are_ real. Apparently I feel like silk all over, but I'm made up of two different textures. Here, feel." He offered his forearm to her and she touched the skin, feeling the grooves of the lines winding up his arm. "No, this isn't a godly thing, I feel like this because I'm a Namekkian. Gokuu-san is not a god, but he is kind of otherworldly isn't he?" He nudged her with the forearm that she was still fondling. She glanced up at the charismatic Kami and then over at the woefully lost Gokuu. She nodded and turned back to Dende. "And, no you haven't made a fool of yourself, in fact you are a breath of fresh air."

"Oh." She turned to Gokuu. "Why are we here?" Suddenly her face paled and Dende placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. "I'm dead aren't I?"

Gokuu, now aware of where the conversation was, rushed forward to clear things up. "No! You're not dead, but you are hurt. Dende can you heal her?"

Dende smiled down at the tan girl. Shiroi returned the smile lopsidedly. "My pleasure."

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"Good, good!" Moltan praised his human student. Kuroi had been doing well on her last few attempts at the dance, and proved to be a diligent study. Moltan had personally expected less from the hot-tempered human; she smelled of poor self-discipline. It smiled as it approached her. "You've got the moves down pretty well. A little more practice on your own, and you'll be perfect! But now, it's time to tell you exactly _how_ the Fusion Dance works."

Kuroi's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, 'how it works'? I thought doing the stupid dance was enough to fuse. I didn't notice anything else when you and Volka fused." Her lip curled in a slight grimace, eyeing the alien's mismatched and ornate attire. "I don't have to wear special clothes or anything, do I?"

"No, no." Moltan grinned. _This one reminds me an awful lot of my previous Chikyuu student. Son Gokuu didn't relish shedding his fighting outfit either._ "The Fusion Dance is a dance of two warriors becoming one. Their minds, bodies, and spirits are in perfect harmony, creating the perfect warrior. In order to fuse, the dance must be performed exactly, the participants mirroring each other in every aspect. This is the key to fusing."

She stared at the alien blankly. "So? I already know the dance. You said I'd be perfect soon, anyway. I don't have to look exactly like the person do I?"

Another grin. "No. You _do_ have to be similar in body size, but what you look like makes no difference in a fusion. Take Volka and I, for instance." Kuroi looked over at Volka, who had taken to picking through the mossy grass substance, then back to Moltan. If she didn't know better, she would have thought the two twins; all these aliens looked the same. How they could differentiate between themselves was a mystery to her. On more than one occasion, she had confused the aliens, for all she had to rely on was their clothing.

"Uhm, right."

This seemed to satisfy Moltan, and it continued. "As I was saying, in order to fuse, you must be in complete harmony. The dance, when performed correctly harmonizes the bodies. By choosing to fuse, your hearts are in harmony. Your spirits, however, must consciously be mirrored. For the fusion to work, you must have your ki levels at the same point."

"Uhh," Kuroi blinked. Had her teacher gone mad? "Ki?"

A flash of surprise streaked through Moltan's features. "You don't know what ki is? Oh, well this will make things much more difficult." It looked down, as if in concerned thought.

Kuroi scowled. What was this alien rambling about? If there's something to learn, Kuroi could master it. How dare this alien presuppose her?! "I can handle it, whatever this 'ki' is!"

Waving its hands in what she guessed was a calming motion, it addressed her. "Okay. Ki. Well, in order to perform the Fusion Dance, you must first _know_ what ki is. Ki is... well... it's like your _spirit_. Understand?"

Kuroi blinked at her teacher. Since when did it start failing in the teaching department? "Uhh, spirit...?"

The alien reached up and rubbed its forehead. "How about this: ki is like the energy you have inside." A lip rose in confusion on Kuroi's part.

"You mean like food?"

Sighing, Moltan shook its head, and wished for all its life that its race was capable of manifesting ki balls the way Gokuu could. "No, no, no. It's.. what you call on when you're fighting."

"My body?"

"No!" Kuroi scowled. Moltan's irritation wasn't helping her own confusion. "It's like... You see, it's... well, it's _energy_!" Moltan sighed, expressing its frustration. "I've never had to explain what ki _is_ before. Sorry, we're going to have to take a break."

Kuroi's scowl grew. _Don't tell me it's giving up. It thinks I'm a lost cause?!_ "But I'm not ready for a break!"

"We both need a break to gather our thoughts on this matter."

Kuroi's lips twitched, ego pricked. "I'm not stupid, if that's what you're thinking!"

Moltan waved its hands again, attempting to calm its student. "Just come back in a little while, and we'll try this again."

Seething, and cradling her ego, she growled. Turning on her heel, she stormed off, intending to pick a fight. As she left, she tossed some words nonchalantly over her shoulder. "Fine, I don't care." On the edges of her senses, she heard Moltan sigh. Setting herself forward, she searched for a suitable target to vent her frustrations on.

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"Feel better?" Dende asked, reaching out a four-fingered hand to help her back to her feet. Shiroi ignored Kami's hand, her eyes down cast, and eased to her feet. Dende's offered hand lowered to his side, but his knowing smile remained.

"Yes, thank you," she mumbled. Dende inclined his head in a quick bow, which Shiroi then reciprocated with a full-fledged bow to communicate her amount of respect for him.

Gokuu ambled over with a huge grin and pounded Shiroi on the back. "Good, let's go gather those dragonballs!"

Shiroi stumbled right off of the edge of Kami's Lookout, her scream fading as she vanished into the clouds. Gokuu sheepishly laughed and called Kintoun.

"See you later Dende!" he threw over his shoulder.

_Twice in one day_, Shiroi growled to herself. Twice that male had endangered her life, only this time her two feet weren't on the ground. This time the ground was the threat, not other people – this time she couldn't fight back. Shiroi glanced down at the ground that rushed to meet her and squeezed her eyes shut. _I'll haunt him_, she swore._ I'll haunt him till he goes crazy and kills himself. And then I'll haunt all of his descendents and then anyone that come within five miles of me. I'll be a vengeful spirit, intent on the destruction of the world. Damnit, I don't want to die yet!_

Gokuu neatly plucked Shiroi out of the air, scooping her onto the cloud alongside him. The jar was violent, but death didn't swiftly follow. She peered up at the madly grinning male through a slit eye and then slowly relaxed. She then lunged at Gokuu, her hands curling into claws to strangle him.

Gokuu laughed sheepishly as he gently held her at bay. "Anno, what about the dragonballs?"

Shiroi wouldn't be deterred. "Right after I kill you...," she promised. Gokuu gathered both of her wrists into one of his large hands and then used his free hand to retrieve the Dragon Ball Radar from the folds of his gi.

"Kintoun," he said to the docilely floating cloud that they sat on. "Go that way." And then he pointed to his left.

While they flew off to gather the first of the dragonballs, Gokuu watched Shiroi determinedly struggle against his hold, her black eyes burning with fire as she glared at him.

"You are intent on scaring me to death. You turn my world upside down and then roughly kick me in the side while I try to find my bearings. And then you proceed to pull me left and right like a rag doll, laughing at me the entire time." She squirmed until she had freed her legs and then shoved a heel into his stomach. Which, of course, had no effect.

"I'm not laughing at you." Gokuu's grip had tightened, his visage void of all innocence. "I would never laugh at someone." He brightened. "Only myself." Kintoun slowed and Gokuu chirruped in his joy. "We're here!"

Shiroi lost the will to kill him at the prospect of gaining her sister back. She followed Gokuu to a large lake and then stopped at the shore. "Where is it?"

Gokuu pointed towards the water. "In there."

"Be right back," she announced and dove into the green water.

Gokuu waited for a full minute before Shiroi's head reappeared. He waited for her to wave, announcing that she had found the dragonball, but she only bobbed on the surface.

"Oi!" she called, "What does a dragonball look like?!"


	5. Chapter Four

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

Kuroi sauntered around, like a black cloud, glaring at everyone who crossed her path. Spirits and aliens alike scattered away like flies, a hapless few feeling a taste of her sour mood when they were unable, or so mindless as to not get out of her way quickly enough. Kuroi was on a mission. A sacred mission: Find somebody - and beat them to a bloody pulp. Somebody worthy; somebody female.

A shock of laughter wafted to her ears, causing her blue eyes to flit over to the source. Standing apart from the mainstream, five aliens were jovially conversing. They were relatively humanoid in body shape, only much slimmer and taller than any human Kuroi's limited resources could tell. Their clothing was apparently skin-tight, and Kuroi had to look twice to make certain it wasn't just different colored skin. She had seen a few aliens like that around. She grimaced. No need to dwell in memories like that. She had once mistaken an absolutely nude male alien for having clothes on. She shook her head discarding the incident.

Kuroi again observed the group. They still had their bodies. Moltan had mentioned something about only the strongest having the honor. Shifting, one of the aliens half-turned, providing her a full profile view. Her eyes widened slightly. Very... female. She narrowed her eyes, arms crossing, and considered them. A grin grew on her lips and her feet carried her over.

"Oooooii. Baaakaaa!"

The group of aliens turned at once, all eyes directed at a pint-sized being standing nearby. One blinked and looked down over a pair of very large breasts. "Excuse me?"

Kuroi's lip twitched. So these aliens were a little taller than her. Okay, a few feet taller, but that didn't make them any more intimidating than a rabbit! "I said 'Hey, idiot!'"

Frowning lightly, the alien turned fully. "Is there a problem?"

"Yea," Kuroi sneered as she crouched into a deep stance. "You're in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'm not in a good mood."

"Look, human, you are human, right?, I don't want to hurt you, even if you do still have your body. I think it would be wise if you go back to where your kind are." At this, the alien turned her back on Kuroi and proceeded to ignore her.

Kuroi's lower lip pursed in a fashion very similar to a pout. Did she just turn her back on her? An amazon?! "I'm not a weakling!"

"..."

"Oooiii, I said I'm not a weakling!"

"..."

"I'm an amazon!"

"..."

Fuming, Kuroi leaned over, plucked a rock from the ground, and threw. A cocky grin fell over her features as it landed squarely on the back of the alien's head.

After a loud sigh, Kuroi was again met with the stranger's face. "Look, I've already told you that I don't want to fight you. All I want to do is sit here and talk with my friends."

"Are you insinuating that I'm not good enough to fight you?!"

"No!" Another sigh emitted from the alien's mouth. "I just don't want to spoil a perfectly good day."

"Because you think I won't put up a good fight?! Because you think I'm a weakling?!"

Turning fully around the alien addressed Kuroi. "What did I do to you? Why do you want to fight me so much?"

Snarling, Kuroi leapt into the air. "Because I'm in a really, really bad mood!" At this, Kuroi's leg flung around.

A number of feet away, the alien slowly rose to the ground, shaking her head. Taking her hand from her temple, she found red gracing her orange fingertips. "Ite..."

The other four aliens rushed over, a flurry of questions being tossed at their fallen comrade. "Are you okay?" "Do you want us to take her away?" "Do you need a bandage for that?" "What'll you do?"

A hand stopped their curiosity as she rose. "I guess I'll have to oblige her, and hope I don't hurt her too much."

Pushing her objecting friends aside, she approached the fiery human. "I'll fight you, but I hold no responsibility for any injuries you get."

Scowling again, Kuroi jumped into the air. "I'm not a weakling!"

Next thing she knew, Kuroi was on the ground, an echo in her ears. Blinking, startled, she stared at the alien hovering over her. As she scowled, she felt her face sting. Okay, so the alien wasn't half-bad. She managed to sneak a punch in there somewhere. Jumping to her feet, Kuroi again confronted the alien.

Shock slid across the alien's face much as it had Kuroi's earlier. "Oh, you're still conscious! I credit you for that."

"I told you," Kuroi yelled, irritation coursing through her. "I'm not a weakling!" Raising her fists, she charged.

"Yes, I can see that," the alien responded, nonchalantly stopping Kuroi's advance with a hand to her head. Kuroi's arms wildly swung, aiming with all her might at the alien's stomach. To her chagrin, however, the alien's arms were about as long as her body; there was no way she could reach.

Ducking, Kuroi retreated to a safe distance. Panting, she pouted at her opponent. That no fair how long her arms are! "You are a formidable woman, I must admit."

The alien started, an arm raising in surprise. "W-woman?! I'm a man!"

Kuroi's eyes became pinpoints. Weakly raising a hand, she pointed. "B-... But you have bo-... boo-..." Kuroi's hand dropped and she made a squeezing motion at her own set of breasts and again pointed at the prominent protrusions from the 'male's' chest. "Boobs!"

Face still shocked, the alien protectively covered his chest. "All males of my race have breasts! The females are so irresponsible, we males are forced to care for the children! On top of that, we're the only ones strong enough to protect them!"

Kuroi's shock gave way into anger. "Strong enough?! Females are stronger than males!" The alien regarded her curiously as she fell into a deep stance. "We will always be stronger than males!"

The alien regarded her for a moment. "I'm afraid I cannot agree with that statement."

Again the alien found Kuroi in his face, fists and feet uselessly reaching for him. In a turn of events, Kuroi swung up, attaching herself to his arm and furiously began gnawing on it. "I- ITE!" Kuroi soon found wind coursing through her hair as she flew swiftly through the air. Panting at his injured arm he scowled at the limber human. "Granted that hurt, but you will never be able to reach me to make any more damage."

Kuroi slowly sat up and shook her head free of cobwebs. Wiping dirt from her face, she grinned at him. "Can't reach? Who says I have to reach with my hands?" Thrusting a hand out, Kuroi yelled.

"What?!" Falling to the side, the alien felt a searing energy blast graze the side of his face. Sitting up, he stared at Kuroi.

Grinning in triumph, said human stood with her fists on her hips. "See?" Raising her hands, she challenged him. "How many of my flashy hand techniques can you dodge?" At this, rapid fire fell from her hands, leaving a cloud of smoke in their wake.

Kuroi stared at the cloud, waiting as it dissipated. Her eyes widened when a completely intact alien continued standing. Huffing, she crouched. "Fine, my flashy hand techniques won't work, I'll just have to do my big flashy ball then."

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Moltan sighed, scanning the crowd. It hadn't intended to make its student mad. Knowing Kuroi, she probably stormed off to pick a fight. Stopping a nearby stranger, he asked about the whereabouts of his pupil.

"Oh, I remember her! Last I checked, she was headed over - oh, well there she is!" Pointing a finger towards a clearing, Moltan followed the stranger's gaze.

Eyes widening at the scene, Moltan started scrambling over. "Thanks!" it threw over his shoulder. That baka! No one her size with her limited fighting knowledge and experience can take an alien like that head on! Let's hope I can talk some sense into her before she gets herself hurt.

Moltan watched as Kuroi drew her hands to her right hip, face fierce. "Ka..." A flicker of light formed between her palms and Moltan skid to a stop.

"No way...!"

"Me..."

"She said she didn't know what 'ki' was!" Moltan stared as its student stood confidently, forming a ki ball it had only seen formed once before. "No way!"

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With only a verbal description of what a dragonball looked like, Shiroi plunged back into the warm water of the lake, waving off Gokuu's offers of help. I already owe him my life twice over. That alone is enough to disgrace my ancestors as well as my descendants!

The warm water soothed her frazzled nerves, and the occasional crisp cold currents caressing her skin as she swam deeper, avoiding fish and peering in between rocks and crevices kept her awake. When her lungs began to burn uncomfortably from lack of air she pushed off the bed of the lake and surfaced.

After four more searches she discovered that there were thirty different kinds of fish in these waters, and ten of them seemed quite poisonous. Or, at least, none of the other, bigger fishes bothered them. She also found out that there was little bug-like-things living in the water. They were incredibly vicious and seemed to think of her as an ideal meal. She didn't find, however, the dragonball.

Surfacing with a growl after fending off another pack of the flesh-eaters, Shiroi waded out of the lake and panted with frustration. She felt a violent urge to blow up the lake, dragonball or no. She was about to squat into her fighting stance when she realized, with a start, how much her response reminded her of her sister. She laughed at herself as she straightened.

Gokuu ambled over, curious, but he kept his mouth closed. He'd been offering her help for the past hour, and she had never accepted it. He gathered that she never would.

"I can't find it," Shiroi spoke, her voice cold. Gokuu glanced at the white-haired girl out of the corner of his eye.

Her head was held high, but her chin quivered.

"This entire adventure has stripped me of my dignity." Shiroi sighed and sat on the shore, glaring out at the water, as if somehow she could coerce the lake to fork over the dragonball. Gokuu joined her, his wrists resting atop his bent knees. The Dragon Ball Radar casually hung from his fingers as he regarded the horizon.

"Ever since I was little, I've always looked up to Kuroi. She was so alive, and so carefree." Shiroi shook her head. "And irresponsible. There were times that I could only look at her in awe for still being alive. One time Kuroi became convinced that all bears were as friendly as our Papa was. Of course, she decided to cuddle with a cub of a irritable mother bear, but Kuroi only came away from the incident with a cherry red butt ala Mama." She smirked. "She couldn't sit for a week. Papa felt sorry for her and snuck her sweets when Mama was sleeping. The thing was, Mama knew, and when Papa stopped coming, Kuroi wailed at the top of her lungs until Papa shuffled in, cooing and shushing her, telling her that she should be a good girl and just go to sleep. Mama wasn't letting him into her bed, and that was one of the things that Papa couldn't live without."

Shiroi's eyes glazed over. "When Mama, Papa, and Akai died in the fire, I made myself responsible for the both of us. I wouldn't allow Kuroi to ever be anyone but her carefree self. I thought everything through ten times over before I acted, I did the talking when we went to the village, and I managed the money we got from trading furs and the extra produce from our garden. Everything was fine until Kuroi died. I lost the last of my family seconds after returning home from the village. And for what? I don't even know what the guy killed her for."

Shiroi remained quite for a moment. "I'm the only living descendent of Tsurara the Amazon. And when I die, Mama will have been banished in vain." Her eyes sharpened on the surface of the lake.

Standing with great dignity, Shiroi waded back into the water, her white hair disappearing moments later.

Gokuu smiled.

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Shiroi nearly gasped when she noticed something glinting on the bed of the lake. Swimming closer, she brushed off a few layers of sand, trying to unearth the shimmering. She grew frantic when what she was uncovering was curving like a ball. She surfaced and blinked the water from her eyes, trying to get a closer look at the sphere in her hands.

Orange, smooth as a marble, two stars in the middle! She had found the dragonball!

Shiroi whooped and thrust her hand into the air, waving to Gokuu who waited on the shore.

"I found it!" she yelled, more out of enthusiasm than for him to hear. "I found the dragonball!"

Gokuu's cheering answered her and she swam to the shore. When she could get her feet under her, she ran to stand beside the madly grinning male.

"So how does this work? I just tell it my wish, and then Kuroi comes back?"

Gokuu shook his head. "We need to find the other six. When we have all seven, Shenlon will appear and then you tell him your wish."

Shiroi nodded in understanding, her grin reaching from ear to ear. "Then where's the next one?"

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Shiroi grinned in anticipation at the six balls that lay at her feet. She bent down and gently placed the two star ball amongst its brethren and then rose to her feet. Gokuu joined her side and they grinned at each other in shared excitement. Before Shiroi could express her thankfulness at his help, Gokuu thrust the Dragon Ball Radar into her hands.

"What's this for?" Shiroi asked, blinking at the machinery that, until now, had been in Gokuu's care.

"I don't need it. Why don't you keep it?" Gokuu asked before he rose his arms into the air, his boyish grin nearly splitting his face.

Shiroi regarded the male that had been her traveling companion for this past two weeks. Although he was the cause of some vexation, he had always managed to sooth things back over. Shiroi closed her eyes, smirking. _Gokuu-sama, you are one weird male._

"Arise, Great Dragon, and grant my wishes!" he shouted to the sky. The marble-like balls at their feet began to glow from within as the sky began to blacken. Gokuu appeared unaffected so Shiroi forced herself to remain just as casual as her companion. A lightning spark burst from the glowing balls and bolted towards the sky. Soon after, a large serpentine dragon grew from the jagged lightning. The deadly mouth of the blood red eyed dragon was wide open as if unsure to laugh at their unworthiness or to munch them whole for daring to expect him to grant a mere human's wish.

"Yo, Shenlon, It's been a long time, ne?" Gokuu waved enthusiastically at the gigantic dragon. Shiroi's black eyes couldn't get any wider from the visual shock of Shenlon "arising," so she narrowed them at Gokuu instead.

"You know him!?" Then she stood fully upright from her crouched position (wary for any attacks) and lifted the hand not clutching the Dragon Ball Radar to forestall him. "Wait, no, of course you know him. You're probably childhood buddies."

"Actually, yeah - "

"**I will grant any three wishes. What is your wish?**"

Shiroi took a step forward, ignoring Gokuu, ignoring everything else but this monumentally proportioned dragon that resided in balls to grant wishes. "I wish that my sister, Kuroi, were alive again!" she announced, her voice firm and loud, making sure that the dragon understood her wish and didn't end up giving her a bowl of rice instead.

The silence that followed lasted for what seemed like hours and left Shiroi in so much suspense, she could only think of the worst.

"**Your wish has been granted**," Shenlon boomed at her, and her heart traveled rapidly from its residence in her feet back up into her chest and then beat like she'd just run around the world. "**Do you have any more wishes?**"

Shiroi started and stammered out a hasty negative. Then with as much flash and flare as the dragon had appeared, he shrank back into the dragonballs. After the cluster levitated into the air, they hardened into stone and shot off in different directions, to remain there until they had recuperated.

The sky lightened as quickly as Shiroi's mood, and avidly, she began to scan the hills and forests that surrounded her for her twin.

"Ku-chan!" she called out, listening for a response. "Ku-chan!" she repeated, louder this time in case Kuroi had failed to hear her. "Ku-chan," she grew worried. "Where are you? Quit playing games with me and come out!" Annoyed now, she cursed the dragon. "Come back here you lousy, dragon! I want my wish!"

Shiroi howled to the skies, swearing revenge on anything associated with the red-eyed beast.

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Moltan flinched, eyes wide. A flicker above its student's head caught his attention, and if ever its eyes could widen further, they did. Did she just lose her halo?!

"Ka...," Kuroi growled. I'll show him what my big flashy ball is all about!

A burst of wind knocked Kuroi off her feet, interrupting her. She rose from the ground, once again shaking her head. "Whoa, that was a big one! It even knocked me off my feet!" Blinking and looking at her hands, she frowned. "... Wait a minute, I wasn't done yet!" Looking up, she found two very large shoes in front of her. Her eyes traveled up from the shoes, following the lines of the tacky pants and eventually found herself staring at a sunburned version of Enma. Wait, he was always like that.

Waving her arm, pointing frantically at him, she stuttered. "Y- you, you!"

Enma's booming voice easily overlapped her frail one. "I've come to take you."

Kneeling on the ground, she humbled herself. "Sorry! Whatever it was, I didn't do it!"

Moltan scraped its jaw from the floor. "It's Dai Ma-ou, Enma-sama!" Oh no, don't tell me Kuroi's being kicked out of heaven! Scuttling over, it looked up in awe at the red giant. "I will attest for Kuroi. She's done nothing to be punished!" It motioned to the ball of human on the ground and again noticed her missing halo. Concerned, it returned its attention to the great god.

A white smile broke through his red lips, and he spoke again. "I realize your honesty, Moltan, but this is beyond my control." Turning again to Kuroi, he addressed her. "Dende wants you Kuroi. You have places to go." At this, he grabbed hold of her shirt.

Kuroi's tearless bawling sharply cut short as the pair vanished in a violent gust of wind.

Moltan blinked and sighed. "... What did she do this time?"

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Kuroi was still bawling when they reappeared in Enma's headquarters.

Enma motioned to a tall alien standing nearby in a white cloak. A large 'Kami' symbol was printed on the front. "This is your Kami." Turning to 'Kami' he grinned. "Here is your charge, Dende. She's all yours."

Kuroi ambled over, uncertainty written over every feature she had. Reaching forward and tugging lightly on his robe, she inspected him. "Are you really Kami? How can I tell that you're not just some random alien who is pretending to be God?"

Dende's smile was friendly. "Yes, Kuroi, I really am Kami."

Kuroi stared wide-eyed at him. "He knows my name..."

"But wait, I don't remember Enma knowing my name! If you're really Kami, you can prove it to me by doing some godly thing, right? And if you're really Kami, wouldn't that make you Enma's brother? If you're brothers, then how come one of you is really big, hairy, and red, and the other is normal size, with pointy ears, and green?" Kuroi reached up and tugged on an antenna. "Are your antennae real? I've never seen anyone here with antennae. Is that a godly thing? If that's a godly thing, then how come Dai Enma doesn't have antennae too? If he does have antennae, does he hide them under his hat? Why don't you wear a dorky hat like Enma anyway?" Kuroi looked at Dende's robes. "No, you have taste. Enma wears stupid clothes that don't even match." Glancing at Enma, she started. "Ah, no offense! I won't get sent to hell for that will I?"

Enma simmered in the corner while Dende freely vented his amusement. "No, that's not a large enough offense."

Kuroi tilted her head, watching the Namekkian. "If you're Kami, then how come I didn't see you anywhere in heaven. Did you design heaven? It's not very heavenly for a heaven, you know. There aren't very many humans here. And I think there should be more Chikyuu flowers or something. If you're Kami then you can do that, right?" Kuroi stared at the being called 'Kami' and waited for an answer. After receiving none, she blinked. "Did I say something wrong?"

Dende smiled, a sweat drop forming at his temple. "No, it's just that you remind me so much of your sister."

Kuroi's eyes widened. "You know my sister? But how?!" Kuroi grew faint. "No way!" Grabbing Dende's robe, she pulled him closer. "Don't tell me she's dead! I was just learning how to do a really cool technique! I don't want to lose my body yet!"

Dende smiled and pointed above her head. "You won't have to lose your body since your sister wished you alive again."

Kuroi stared, her face still in his. Slowly a sweat drop formed. "Uhm, I'm alive again?"

Still smiling, Dende nodded.

Closing her eyes, her face fell to the ground, knees weak. With a deep breath, her grip tightened on Dende's robe and she thrust her face in his once more. "Why didn't you tell me that before?! If I'm dead, then why am I still in heaven! And if I'm alive again, how come all of my wounds are gone? No one ever explained that to me before. I thought it was because I was dead. How am I supposed to get back home? I'm sure Shi-chan's worried about me. When I was wished alive again, how come I didn't feel it? Aren't dead people supposed to know if they're dead or alive? Wait, I'm alive. Aren't alive people supposed to know if they're dead or alive? How come when I was wished alive again I didn't just go back to Earth? Speaking of wishes, how did she wish me back? Are prayers that strong? Is it because of you I'm alive again? Don't tell me I have to go on some godly journey."

Dende weakly smiled at Kuroi. "Do you really want to know about everything you asked?"

Kuroi released the Namekkian's robes and considered this. Shrugging, she smiled. "Not really. Can I go home yet?"

His smile growing, he placed a hand on Kuroi's shoulder. "Of course you can. That's why I'm here." Dende waved a farewell to Enma, and the next thing Kuroi knew, she was standing on a large platform overlooking Chikyuu.

"A-.. ah!" Kuroi stumbled away from the edge of the lookout and tightly gripped Dende's robe again. "You said I'd go home, now where are we?!

"This is my temple, a median between the two worlds. To take you home, we had to first pass through here."

"... Oh." Kuroi looked around her. So, this was where Kami resided? How come she hadn't seen it going to heaven? Shrugging it off, she continued inspecting the premises. A movement caught her eye, and she squinted for a better look. A black mass of something wearing a large turban and sporting incredibly large red lips turned and waved. Kuroi gripped Dende's poor robe even tighter. "Uhm, can I go home yet?"

Not paying attention to her tense mood, Dende scanned the earth below. "Please be patient, Kuroi. I'm trying to find your home."

The black form put down what appeared to be a watering can and potted flowers. "Oh, okay. What about now?"

"I've almost found it."

To Kuroi's horror, the figure began moving closer. "Now?" Kuroi edged further away, very nearly falling off the edge. Now only a mere 5 feet away, the figure rose a hand. She squeezed her eyes, expecting that very hand to push her to her doom.

"Welcome back, Kami-sama! The flowers missed you!"

"Ah, it's Mister Popo!" Turning, Dende approached this 'Popo'.

Having lost her handhold on Kami's robe, Kuroi flailed her arms, toes desperately grasping for the lookout's platform. "Ka- kami-samaaaaaa!" Kuroi's voice faded as a gust of wind blew her off the edge.

Twirling around, Dende's eyes widened while Popo's mouth formed an 'O'. "Kuroi!" Running to the edge, he stared down at her receding form. "Excuse me Karin, I need to make use of your cloud. Kintoun! Please catch her!"

Kuroi screamed as a giant mass of yellow cloud formed below her. "Help me, I'm gunna get eaten by a cloooouuud!" Squeezing her eyes tightly, her form disappeared into Kintoun. And bounced out again before settling. Opening one eye, she looked around her. "Eh?!" All around her, a massive yellow cloud encompassed her vision. Turning, she found a tower within a few meters of her position. Blinking, she looked again. "Help me, I'm gunna get eaten by a cat with a stiiiiick!"

Said cat chuckled and looked up. Curious, Kuroi followed the feline's gaze and found Kami descending. "I'm so sorry Kuroi! I would have caught you myself, but I can't fly that fast."

Kuroi stared wide-eyed at Dende. "Wow... You can fly! Does that come with being Kami?"

Dende laughed and decided it was best to remain silent. "Come, I've found your house."

Kuroi jumped up and looked starry-eyed at the green god. "Really?! I can go home now?!"

Smiling, Dende nodded. Taking a hand, he placed it on her shoulder before both vanished. As rapidly as it had formed, Kintoun dissipated into its usual ring around Karin's tower.

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With a snarl, Shiroi whirled around to confront Gokuu. Stupid male. Stupid dragon.

"Gokuu-sama," she ground out, "You have... some..."

Shiroi scanned the area around her, searching for the suddenly missing male. "Gokuu-sama?" Shiroi called out, walking to the place that he had recently been standing in and turning circles, hoping to spot him. She rolled her eyes when she failed to find him. "Kuso. What else should I expect from a male? Granted, he's not like any other male I have ever met, but he is still a male." Shiroi glared at the sky and pondered how much time she had left in the day.

Where was she supposed to go now? The dragon had said that her wish had been granted, but she didn't see her sister anywhere. Shiroi gasped as she realized that the dragon had said Kuroi was alive. Kuroi's body was buried! What if she came alive in the coffin? She would die from suffocation! Shiroi bolted off in the direction of her home, cursing herself from traveling so far away from the house at a time like this.


	6. Chapter Five

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

Shiroi entered the clearing near her home, going fast enough to make the bushes rustle in her wake. She dropped the Dragon Ball Radar and scooped up the discarded shovel from the spot she'd thrown it after burying her sister and raced to the grave.

Dirt flew into the air, falling around her in chaotic showers. Shiroi's muscles burned. Her legs trembled, threatening to give out, her arms were tense and painful, aching every time she shoveled another patch of dirt into the nearby bushes, and her lungs could never seem to inhale enough air.

Mentally, Shiroi reached out for her twin, and wailed in misery as Kuroi failed to respond. When the dragon had announced Kuroi's revival to the world of the living, Shiroi hadn't believed him. After all, until the moment of her death, Shiroi could sense Kuroi's every thought. If Kuroi truly was alive, then she should have been able to hear her twin once again. Her mind remained silent save for the mourning sound of her own thoughts.

Kuroi, both curious and annoyed by the insistent mental noise in her head, looked up from her trek up the mountain just in time to get a shovelful of dirt in her face.

"Kyaa!"

Shiroi whirled around, the shovel brandished as a weapon, her eyes narrowed and furious. _What, another intruder? This time after my life?_

The shovel fell to the ground with a muffled thud from numb, trembling fingers.

"Ku-ku.... Ku-chan!" Shiroi cried, tears springing into her eyes, unheedingly. "You're okay, you're not dead!" Shiroi stumbled forward and threw her arms around her twin, leaning heavily. Kuroi, unbalanced by both the sight of her stoic twin weeping and the sudden weight of her, toppled backwards with a startled yelp.

"I thought the dragon lied! He told me you were alive, but I couldn't see you anywhere. I thought you came alive in your coffin, six feet under the ground and I ran home." Shiroi pulled far enough away to look into her twin's familiar blue eyes. Alive. Kuroi was alive!

"Dragon? Anno... Shi-chan, are you okay?" Kuroi placed a hand on Shiroi's forehead, raising a black eyebrow at her lack of a temperature.

"No!" Shiroi howled, clutching her twin tighter. "I was all alone on Chikyuu! I ran away, because I couldn't stand to stay here without you. I went to the city and beat up some males who told me about the Dragon Ball Radar. Then there was that odd redhead, and then Gokuu-sama came along and helped me. He was the only one who knew anything at all. Everyone in the world is crazy and clueless. No wonder Mama and Papa came out here. We got the dragonballs together and I then I wished you alive, and the dragon said that my wish was granted, but you weren't there!"

Shiroi and Kuroi separated and sat up. Kuroi crossed her arms, "I was fighting in heaven with a male who had boobs when Dai-Enma-sama stopped me in the middle of my big flashy ball and told me that Kami wanted me. Did you know that our Kami is a tall green person with antennae?" Shiroi nodded.

"And skin like silk."

Kuroi cocked her head to the side. "Silk? I thought it felt more like satin. Wait, you met Kami?"

"Gokuu-sama took me up there to heal me after fighting with that red-head's army. Then he slapped me on the back, and I fell of the platform."

"You too?! I was trying to avoid the squat black... being with the vacant expression, and I lost my balance."

Shiroi stared at Kuroi for a moment. Kuroi enjoyed the sensation of her twin's thoughts buzzing within her mind. It was one of the things she had missed in heaven.

"I really, really missed you, Ku-chan," Shiroi whispered her black eyes soft.

_Me too, Shi-chan_, Kuroi responded, touching her thoughts to her sisters.

However, Shiroi failed to respond as if she was deaf to her sister's mental sending. Kuroi shrugged it off, deciding that her sister was blocking her message. Perhaps Shiroi had forgotten how to communicate mentally. A lot of stuff had happened to the both of them.

At any rate, Kuroi was hungry, and that deer that she had hunted earlier was calling to her stomach. Kuroi stood, grinning. "Hungry?"

Shiroi nodded and eased to her feet. "Very."

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Kuroi handed Shiroi two slabs of raw meat and rubbed her hands together in anticipation, eyeballing her portion of meat. Shiroi rolled her eyes and tossed the meat into the air. Kuroi shot at the flying meat with her flashy hand techniques and waited for the cooked meat to descend.

The meat was in her mouth the second her hands could touch it. With a muffled 'mmmm' Kuroi closed her eyes and savored the flavor. "Food." She sighed, sinking to her knees. "I don't think I ever ate in heaven. You'd think that there'd be food all over considering it's heaven. I'm glad I was there only a few days."

Shiroi glanced at her twin. "A few days? Heaven must not have been that bad for you to lose track of time like that. You've been dead for 4 weeks and 2 days. Well, you _were_, at least."

Pulling a bit of meat from between her teeth, Kuroi considered Shiroi. "No way. There was nothing to do in Heaven. I would have _died _if I had to be there _that _long."

"Uhm, Ku-chan? You already were dead."

"Oh. Well, I would have died again, then." Kuroi prepared another slab of meat and began gorging on it.

Shiroi munched on her meat and settled beside her blissfully sighing sister. "What's heaven like? All I got to see was Kami's Lookout."

"_Very _boring. Almost everyone's a spirit, and if you're strong enough you get to keep your body." Kuroi sat upright. "I saw Teddy and Mama! I couldn't find Aka-chan, though. Mama and Teddy said they hadn't found him yet. You'd think with 10 years in heaven, they'd be able to find him. Then again I can't imagine Aka-chan sitting still and waiting for Teddy to find him."

Shiroi shook her head, a slight smile on her lips. "No, Aka-chan never could stay still. He was able to be as emotionless as Mama and me, but he couldn't rein in the energy he inherited from Papa."

"Oh!" Kuroi slapped fist into the palm of the other hand. "The Fusion Dance!"

"The Fusion Dance?" Shiroi popped the last of her meat in her mouth.

"Yeah, I learned it from this tall alien. It allows you to fuse into one person, and you grow really powerful."

Shiroi sat up, and stared at her twin. "Hey, when I was in the village before you... died, I heard that the Tenka Ichi Bodokai is coming up pretty soon. We could fuse and win the money easily!"

Kuroi bolted to her feet. "Yea, and beat the misplaced ego out of a bunch of males! What are we waiting for? I'll teach you right now, and we can train as one person!"

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Uubu sighed and watched his sisters carry in the reserves of water needed for cooking dinner. The youngest, Uube, tripped, spilling her contents across the dirt path. Still being young, crying came easily to her - as it did now. Uubu smiled and walked over, kneeling beside his weeping sibling.

"What's wrong, Uube?"

"I spilled Mama's water, so now I haffa go back and fetch more!" Her tiny fists ground into her leaking eyes.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Uubu spoke softly. "Don't cry, Uube. You're too cute to cry. Besides, little girls shouldn't have reasons to cry."

Uube looked up at her brother, his dark face nearly black in the dimming light. "But Mama needs her water or I won't get supper!" A quiver shook her lower lip.

A wide smile greeted her. "Go back to our hut and tell Mama that I'll bring the last of the water. We don't want cute girls to be wandering around at night."

"Really?! 'Nii-chan'll go get the water?!"

He nodded, smile bright against the sunset. Eyes shining, Uube giggled and ran into the village crying for her mother. Uubu's smiled faded with his sister and he again contemplated the sunset. "Gokuu-san, where are you?" He leaned over, picking up the water basket, and started towards the river.

He had only half filled the basket when a noisy splash caught his attention. Looking up, he found a grinning Saiyajin standing knee-deep in the river before him. "Yo," Gokuu greeted.

"Gokuu-san!!" Uubu fell back, gripping at his startled heart. He still hadn't grown used to Gokuu's Shunkan Idou. Regaining himself, he addressed his sensei. "Where have you been?! The village was beginning to get worried about you!"

Smiling that classic Son smile, Gokuu tucked a hand behind his head and raised the other. A giant fish encompassed Uubu's vision. "Heheh, I brought dinner."

Despite how much Gokuu had worried him by his disappearance, Uubu smiled. He did miss him. "Okaeri, Gokuu-san."

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Shiroi stared at Kuroi, her arms crossed, her face expressionless save for the lifting of a single eyebrow.

"No."

"Shi-chan I know the Fusion Dance looks stupid, but we have to do it in order to become more powerful!" Kuroi yelled, frustrated at both having to do the dance, and apparently having done the stupid dance in vain.

"No."

"Do you think I like doing these stupid moves?! No! I don't want to look like a moron, but it increases power. Don't you want to be more powerful? Powerful enough to get all of that money at the Tenka Ichi Budokai?"

"We're doing fine financially as it is. We don't need the money from the Tenka Ichi Budokai."

"Yes we do! It's family tradition. We haven't gone to the Tenka Ichi Budokai since our family died. We're weak from not testing ourselves against others. The Fusion Dance will help us beat everyone there. Two people in one body."

Shiroi glared at her sister for a while. Then, with an irritated growl she turned her back on her sister - her thinking pose that demanded Kuroi to wait and not interrupt her until she turned back around - while she pondered some more the profits of doing the Fusion Dance (which didn't look like a dance at all).

Kuroi fidgeted impatiently while Shiroi stared into the darkening sky. To give herself something to do, Kuroi began to go through the kata their father had taught them to perform before going to bed. It consisted of 252 moves, all of which the girls had to hold for a minute. It was bliss compared to the Morning Kata.

Shiroi turned back around while Kuroi was holding the 34th move. "If we fuse, we can never unfuse, can we?"

Kuroi stared at her sister for a while, thinking, then grinned. "The spirit who told me about the Fusion Dance said it wasn't permanent. We can unfuse whenever we want to."

Shiroi rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if we're stuck in the same body, that means that the both of us have to cooperate in controlling the body, yes? That means that when you want to go headfirst into something dangerous, I'm going to stop you. Physically. I'm not going to let you break my neck too. If you kill our body, I die as well."

Kuroi grinned again. "I've been lucky so far. That one guy who killed me caught me off guard, that's all. And you killed him, so we don't have to worry about him anymore, right? We fusing?"

Shiroi glared at her sister. "Yes."

Kuroi whooped and jumped into the air. "Yatta! Alright, let's get going! You remember the moves?"

Shiroi snorted. "How could I forget, they are the stupidest poses I've ever seen in my entire life. I will be glad to never do them again."

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Dende smiled and leaned back from the edge of his lookout, satisfied at his success. The white haired twin's thoughts were difficult to influence; almost as difficult to influence as Trejiita. He was still having trouble with said Saiyajin. He was stubborn, that one. Shiroi was just very thorough in her decision making. A swirl of wind disturbed his cloak and he turned, smiling. "Hello, Piccolo-san."

"Hello, Dende." Piccolo glanced over at the edge of the platform then back at Dende. "Something's happening."

Dende tried to smile his most innocent smile. _No one must know about Trejiita just yet._ "Is there?"

Piccolo's eyes narrowed slightly. "I used to be Kami, you can't fool me. If there's a new threat to Chikyuu, you can't keep it a secret."

"There's no new threat to Chikyuu. If anything, there's a new ally."

Piccolo's mouth twitched, forming a half scowl; one Dende knew meant that Piccolo was confused but didn't want to admit. "Ally? I don't feel anything."

Dende smiled and returned his attentions to Chikyuu. "That's because they aren't ready to fight yet."

"What? Not ready to fight yet?" Piccolo followed Dende's gaze and looked down at Chikyuu himself. It was times like this he wished he had Kami's eyes again. Granted he could see all of earth from here, but he could not discern individuals, nor their thoughts or importance in the stream of Chikyuu's future. "Who are they? Son would be more than happy to train them."

Dende was silent a moment. "He cannot do that."

"Well if not Son, then maybe Kuririn. If no one else will, then I can submit them to my training." Piccolo sneered. He didn't relish training anyone else, especially if they proved to be a child. Gohan was a handful, and by how Dende was talking, they might well be a brat.

"None of you can meet them. Their fate will be altered, and that must not happen." Dende's voice was soft.

"What?!" Piccolo swirled to face Dende's quiet features. "Why not?"

"These next few months will be very precarious. I must lead them in the right direction to meet their fate. Only then will they be ready to meet Chikyuu's protectors."

Piccolo stared at Dende. His voice was almost... affectionate. Scowling, he resigned himself to looking down at Chikyuu. Dende wasn't going to tell him any more, this he knew. Until the time came, he would just have to practice patience.

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"Fu..." The twins swung their arms around, concentration written across their faces.

Their voice echoed together as their knees raised in unison. "...sion..."

Leaning together, they pointed their fingers. "**HA!**"

The woods fell silent as the twin's dance finished. Slowly, a heavy breath broke the silence. "WHY DIDN'T IT WORK?!" Kuroi half yelled.

"Maybe it takes a few seconds," Shiroi suggested. Both remained motionless. After a full minute Kuroi broke the connection and stood, stomping a foot.

"That no good alien, it gypped me! It just wanted to teach me a stupid dance and see me make a fool of myself!"

Shiroi straightened herself and crossed her arms in thought.

"I bet you its laughing its head off this very second. Ooooh, when I die, guess who I'm coming after." She stomped her foot again. "The things I'll do! It'll regret ever having wronged me!"

"Wait, there has to have been something we did wrong," Shiroi interrupted her twin's tantrum. Kuroi's lips twitched in irritation. "Let's try it again."

Sighing in resignation, Kuroi moved to her starting point. "It better work this time."

Falling into her own starting stance, Shiroi nodded at her twin. Concentrating, the twins again performed their dance.

"Fusion HA!"

"..."

"THAT KISAMA! I'M GUNNA KILL IT!!!!"

Shiroi shut out her twin's ranting, carefully thinking the moves over. "Ku-chan." Pale blue eyes flitted over, burning with annoyance. "Show me the dance again. Go through it slowly, one move at a time."

Complying, Kuroi retraced the moves, if a touch violently.

"That's it!"

Kuroi blinked at her sister. "What?"

"I was doing one of the motions wrong. That's why we weren't fusing. Let's try again."

Excited now, Kuroi nodded. Together, the twins began the dance. Moving in unison, they performed the dance perfectly.

"Fusion HA!" Again the woods fell silent as all nearby wildlife quieted.

**"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!! WHY WON'T IT WORK?!?!"**

Shiroi sighed, ignoring Kuroi. _What are we doing wrong?_

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A dark form slipped unnoticed inside of Capsule Corp.'s housing wing. Only the family of Capsule Corp was allowed in the area, whose security was twice as heavy. The form managed to slip past each security-bot and failed to activate the invisible trip-wires.

The form turned a corner, sneaking along the hallway leading to the president of Capsule Corp's personal bedroom suite. He stilled at the sound of a small voice, calling out boldly.

"Mama! Can I have a drink of water before I go to bed?"

Trejiita flattened himself against the wall around the corner he had recently turned; holding his breath as Bulma appeared and strolled down the hallway to her daughter's room.

"Just one glass, and then you have to promise me you will go straight to sleep."

"I promise!" came the chipper reply. Trejiita smirked. Judging by the lack of sleep in the girl's voice, Bra would be up for another hour before finally settling down for the night.

Trejiita inched closer to the open door of Bra's bedroom, and peered in. Bulma was sitting on the bed while little Bra gulped down a glass of water. He watched in silence as Bulma tucked her daughter in, placed a butterfly kiss on the child's forehead and wished her a goodnight. Silently, Trejiita slid back to his hiding place down the hallway.

The moment Bulma exited the room a chill slid up her spine and the presence of another someone in the hallway caught her attention. "Who's there?" she called out in a demanding voice. "Come out where I can see you! I'm calling security," Bulma warned, inching further into the hallway where the presence that she had felt originated.

A waft of cool air brushed against her cheek, drawing her attention to an open window a few feet away. Bulma shut the window with a hasty click. Her fingers clutched the sill of the window, as she gazed into the dusk sky through the tinted glass. Who could her visitor have been? Her security systems were top of the line, and her secturity-bots were strong and quick enough to be a hot item among the rich and reclusive all over the world.

_Could it have been...?_ Bulma quickly banished that thought. He was dead, as was their son. They both had been dead for the past year. Shenlon had boomed in that dragon-voice of his that neither Vejiita nor Trunks could be returned to the world of the living. Fresh despair and grief filled Bulma so quickly she didn't have the time to banish her tears. Sniffling loudly, Bulma ferociously dashed the tears out of her eyes.

"Mama?" Bra asked, tugging gently on her mother's pants. "Are you okay?"

Bulma smiled, sniffled a final time, and scooped up Bra. "Yes, Bra-chan, Mama's just fine. Now, what did you promise me?"

Bra squirmed and protested. "But, Mama, I don't wanna go to bed."

Bulma managed to keep the child in her arms as she returned to Bra's bedroom. "But, Bra-chan, you promised me you would go to sleep. You don't want to be a liar, do you?"

Bra pouted out her lower lip. "Yes!"

Bulma narrowed her eyes in disapproval at her daughter, who glared in return. Bulma changed tactics. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm tired."

Bra's glare softened in curiosity. "You are?"

Bulma nodded sluggishly. "Mmm-hm, very tired. I've had a long day. Do you mind if I lay down in your bed?"

Bulma placed Bra on the bed and settled down beside her daughter, laying her head on the pillow, and closed her eyes with a relieved sigh. Bra watched her mother in fascination.

"Are you really tired, or are you just pretending?" Bra asked, touching her palm to her mother's cheek. Bulma remained still, her breathing slow, yet shallow. Bra continued to sit on the bed for another minute before yawning and curling up next to her mother.

Within moments she was asleep.

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Shiroi kept her back to her ranting counterpart, desperately trying to tune her out.

"Kuso! I bet it's some huge plot to humiliate us! MOLTAN! Yes you, in heaven! See that tree there? This'll be what happens to you once I get my hands on you!" Squatting, Kuroi prepared for a big flashy ball.

"_Cut it out, Kuroi!_" Shiroi snapped.

Kuroi nearly fell over and stared, big flashy ball forgotten. _She only uses my full name when she's in a **really **bad mood._ Lips pursing, Kuroi turned her own back on her twin and stared at the invisible horizon line. After a few minutes, she sighed and began her Night Kata.

Pleased, Shiroi continued thinking. After a while, she hit her fisted hand into the palm of the other. "Dragonballs."

Kuroi dropped her lifted leg from her sidekick and blinked at her twin. "Dragonballs?"

Shiroi grinned at Kuroi. "Dragonballs. They grant any wish you have. Gokuu-sama gave me the Dragon Ball Radar, so we can collect them and wish to be fused."

"Gokuu-sama. You said that name before. Who's he? Another Kami?"

"No, but I think he's a demi-god. He can stop bullets, and when we were fighting an army it took him less time to take down the majority of than it took me to fight twenty guys. And he knows Kami-sama."

"So lets go collect the Dragonballs," Kuroi demanded impatiently. Shiroi started to nod, but then she realized that she didn't have the Dragon Ball Radar in her hands.

"Ah! Where's the Dragon Ball Radar?" Shiroi scoured the clearing they sat in. Kuroi ran around in circles, screaming in frustration that she had no clue what to look for.

As she was lifting a rock, Shiroi retraced her steps, noting that she had it when she raced home, but not when she was digging up Kuroi's grave. She raced back up to the graves, Kuroi sprinting beside her.

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The twins stared at the silent radar in Shiroi's dark hands.

"Isn't it supposed to do something? You said there's supposed to be a huge dragon that comes out and grants wishes."

"No, you use this to collect the dragonballs. The dragon comes out of those."

"But isn't this supposed to do something too?"

Shiroi again clicked the button on the top of the inactive radar. As before, only a pale grid greeted her. "Yes, but I don't know why it isn't."

Sighing, Kuroi stood shrugging. "I'll be over there until you figure out how the thing works." At this, she again began her Night Kata.

Shiroi put the radar on the ground and stared at it, her face tense with concentration. "Maybe it has to recover," Shiroi muttered. Kuroi continued to perform the kata, her ear tuned into Shiroi. "Maybe with every wish that it performs, it take energy away from the dragon."

"Or the Dragon Ball Radar isn't working," Kuroi offered, punching the air slowly and holding still when she finished the punch.

"It's working, but it won't detect the dragonballs. After the wish I made, they turned to stone. They need to recover."

"For how long?" Kuroi turned to her sister, her blue eyes pleading.

"I don't know. The dragon grants three wishes, I made one. So however long the dragon takes to recover from three wishes, divide it by three."

"But we don't know how long the dragon takes for three wishes."

"Exactly. So, we wait."

Kuroi groaned. "But I hate waiting."

Shiroi smirked at her sister. "Either that or spend forever trying to fuse with the Fusion Dance."

Kuroi glared at Shiroi. "I can wait."


	7. Chapter Six

**CHAPTER SIX:**

The horizon was barely beginning to lighten when a loud THUNK resounded through the twin's cabin.

"Itetetete!" A dark form rose their hand to their head and rubbed a forming bump. With a groggy voice, they spoke. "Maaan, why do you hafta take up so much room in the bed, Shi-chan?!" A loud snore greeted her. Sighing, Kuroi rose and opened the window, looking across the sky. "Oh well, it's nearly morning anyway." Only snoring answered her.

Stretching deeply, Kuroi yawned and fetched her clothes for the day. It had been four months since her return to the world of the living. Kuroi grinned. She knew Shiroi probably had some surprise planned for her. Her twin really took her death hard; she had to celebrate her revival every chance she got. In a way, Kuroi was glad she got up before her sister. She could strip Shiroi of every chance to do her share of chores, and revel in watching her twin scramble for ideas to treat her. After four months, celebration got a bit monotonous. Snatching a quick snack to pick her up before breakfast, Kuroi went into the front yard and began her Morning Kata.

By the time she had finished, the sun was just beginning to peek over the edge of the world. Taking a final stretch, Kuroi returned into the cabin and picked up the Dragon Ball Radar from its place on the table. It had taken a while for Shiroi to explain what the radar was supposed to do and how it worked before Kuroi understood. Now, a schedule was laid out that could be followed by either of the twins. Check the radar every morning and night to see if the dragonballs had recovered or not. Kuroi had long ago began to wonder if the things would recover at all.

Kuroi sat in her chair and stared at it. It had been four months, to the day, that the dragonballs were used. Sighing, she pushed the button. _Will it be like every other day?_

Kuroi practically fell out of her chair when the radar lit up. _It's possessed!_ Peeking up from the edge of the table, Kuroi stared at the beeping device so recently and unceremoniously launched from her hands. Slowly, recognition lit up her eyes. "It's working!"

Snatching it up, Kuroi noisily ran to the bedroom. "Shi-chan, Shi-chan! Get up! The-the-the.. _thing_ is working!"

She stared as her sister remained motionless and silent save for a quiet, even breathing. "OI! SHI-CHAN! WAKE _UP_, WE'VE GOT DRAGONBALLS TO COLLECT!" Again her sister was silent. Face twitching, Kuroi calmly placed the Dragon Ball Radar on the dresser and returned to the bed. Plucking it from the ground, she flipped it, dropping her twin roughly on the floor.

"Uwaaa!" Shiroi rose into a stance, wary for any attacks. Even despite her sleepy state, her instincts held strong. Looking up and seeing a fuzzy shape resembling her sister, her stance slackened. "What was that for, Ku-chan?!"

Kuroi dropped the bed on the floor and grinned wildly at her. More awake now, Shiroi's features took on her usual calmness. "Something happened." A nod greeted her, but Kuroi still remained silent. Slowly, but surely, a steady beeping began to creep into her consciousness. Kuroi's grin widened as Shiroi's face began to reveal shock. "The Dragon Ball Radar! It's working?!"

Kuroi laughed, giddy, and swiped the radar from the dresser, displaying a blinking green dot to her sister. "I tried it this morning, and it just started bleeping at me!"

Shiroi stumbled over, staring at the device in shock. "It's working..." Taking the radar and examining it, she twisted the button a few times. Kuroi watched, clueless as to what Shiroi was doing. She had never said anything about _twisting_ the button. Nodding, Shiroi looked up to her sister. "It's like last time. All the dragonballs are scattered pretty far apart. The closest one is to the south, on an island."

Kuroi swung her arms around, warming her shoulders up. "I'll swim there! What are we waiting for, c'mon!"

Shaking her head, Shiroi spoke. "No, Ku-chan, we can't just leave like this. We need food, clothes, supplies, not to mention our reserve of money."

Kuroi blinked at her sister. "It's not going to take that long is it? We just follow the Dragon Ball Radar and gather the dragonballs and then wish on them to be fused, right?"

Shiroi sighed. "Yes, Ku-chan, but gathering all of the dragonballs is going to take more than two seconds. The dragonballs are scattered all over the world. When Gokuu-sama and I collected them, some of the dragonballs were at all of the corners of the world. Even with Kintoun!"

Kuroi scrunched her face up at the new word. "Kintoun?"

Shiroi nodded. "The cloud that Gokuu-sama controls. We are talking about a demi-god here, Ku-chan. Because we're mere mortals, no matter how fast we go, it will take us longer than just a week"

Kuroi groaned unhappily. Shiroi left her sister to her devices and walked into their cabin to pack for the trip.

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Kuroi tapped her bare foot impatiently on the floor of their cabin while her sister packed provisions for the journey after the dragonballs. More than once, Kuroi had heard Shiroi mutter something about a cloud. Waving it aside, Kuroi shouldered her pack and trudged outside hoping that there would be something there to relieve her boredom.

The second Shiroi stepped out of the cabin, Kuroi heaved an irritated sigh. "Jeez, Shi-chan, what'd you do, pack the entire house?"

Shiroi walked past her sister, Dragon Ball Radar in hand. "You do know that the more you poke and prod me, the slower I go."

Kuroi growled her answer. The white haired twin glanced over her shoulder at her twin. "Now that wasn't a very nice thing to say," she said, a mocking grin pulling at her lips.

To inform her sister exactly how nice her previously growled words were, she muttered some indecent words, the most of them describing an uncomfortable torture-fest with Shiroi as the star. Shiroi snickered and hitched her pack higher on her back.

"So," Kuroi chirped five minutes into the trip. "How close are the dragonballs?"

This was going to be a long adventure.

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Trejiita poked a stick into the small dragon that would be his dinner. The dragon had put up a fight, which had forced Trejiita to use a ki ball in order to kill it. The ki ball had been small enough to not attract attention, but it reminded him how much his power was slipping. Having to keep his ki at a human level kept him on his toes, but he couldn't train anything but his body.

An urge to let go of the leash he kept on his ki, and just train until he could no longer stand up straight burned hot in his breast. He managed to swallow it before his ki slid any higher.

Trejiita poked the stick into the dragon for a second time, this time satisfied with the results. He easily lifted the dragon away from the fire and ripped into it.

Munching thoughtfully on a bite of meat, Trejiita pondered the events of the past week.

For the past sixteen months, he'd been brooding over the loss of his family and his life. He was neither Vejiita nor Trunks, and so he had no place in the lives of his family. He couldn't be a husband, son, father, and brother to the Briefs women at the same time. So he'd been forced to disappear, however due to his loyalty and... love... for both Bulma and Bra, he'd wanted to check up on the two of them from time to time.

When Bulma had learned that neither Trunks nor Vejiita could be returned to her, she had gone into seclusion, strengthening her security and lessening her appearances in public. Trejiita was surprised that Bulma had allowed Bra to continue school.

As the days passed, Trejiita yearned more and more for the knowledge of how his family was doing. He had reduced himself to sneaking onto Capsule Corp grounds, ducking and dodging the security-bots, just to watch his family eat a meal or sleep.

Then he had gotten himself nearly caught. Bulma had sensed him. An odd yearning of both lust and love stirred in his gut. He wasn't supposed to feel lust for Bulma - a portion of him was her son. Either way, Trejiita had just barely been able to escape, and the close encounter caused Bulma to up the security for a second time.

This time, no matter how much Trejiita tried, he could not be able to find a way to break into Capsule Corp to continue his monthly visits. It was impossible. Why had he allowed Bulma to sense him? What had been going through his head?

Lust. Love. Grief at no longer being able to be part of Bra or Bulma's lives.

Trejiita returned his attention to his food. It was his own fault, he should have just been happy with reading newspapers and watching the occasional television for updates on the inhabitants of Capsule Corp. That was what he would have to do for the rest of their lives. There was no way that he could take the place of two men.

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Shiroi looked ahead of her to her still racing twin. "Ku-chan, wait!"

Her black haired sister slowed only a little, but looked back. "What?"

"The sky's starting to get dark." Shiroi pointed to the twins' right at the setting sun. "We need to find someplace to set up camp. ... Ku-chan?" She stared at her distracted sister who had slowed to a stop.

Kuroi herself pointed, only this time ahead of them. "What's that?"

Shiroi squinted her eyes, trying to discern what her sister had in the dimming light. Slowly, a dark form began to appear. Before she could reel in her curious twin, Kuroi had already started towards the apparently abandoned hut.

"It's a hut," Kuroi stated.

_Thanks for the blinding flash of the obvious, Ku-chan_, Shiroi thought. "There might be someone still living here. We need to be careful."

"Aw, come on, Shi-chan. There's no one here we can't beat up." At this, Kuroi stepped up to the front of the house. "Hellooo, any one hoooome?"

Shiroi stood back and watched as her sister vanished into the darkness of the shack-like building, watching and wary for any attackers to jump out of the brush. A few minutes and some rustling later, Kuroi emerged from the hut and greeted her twin with a smile.

"There's no one here, and there hasn't been for a long time." Kuroi glanced back into the darkness. "The place is a mess, but it's livable. We can stay here for the night."

Shiroi regarded the building once more before nodding, and picked up her bags while Kuroi again vanished into its depths. Pausing at the door, she noticed a sign by the jamb. "... Son... Gohan." She stared at the sign for a while, straining her memory for the reasons this name sounded familiar before finally giving up and joining her sister.

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Shiroi woke to sounds of her sister eating. Noisily. Rolling her eyes, she rose out of the makeshift bed they had constructed the night before and joined her sister outside. The hut was tiny, much smaller than their cabin, and thus had no room for a kitchen.

"Ou, ohayo, Shi-chan!" Shiroi raised an eyebrow at the meal in front of Kuroi. Apparently the game was different here than at their home, for what Kuroi was eating was no animal Shiroi had ever seen before.

"Is that safe to eat?"

"I'm not dead yet, so yea." Kuroi licked her fingers and sighed in contentment. "It's actually pretty good. But I had a hard time of hunting it. It was a _vicious_ thing!" She pointed at the toothy mouth and clawed feet. "It's skin was tough to beat too. It's scaly like a fish."

Shiroi walked around the monster before taking a slab herself. "If I get sick, it's your fault."

Kuroi grinned. "Okay. I'll be sick too, so we'll be even." She looked over to the rising sun. "But eat fast, we need to get moving."

Nodding, her sister prepared her breakfast while Kuroi packed their belongings. Within half an hour, they were again on the road.

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Popo turned from the new flower garden and looked to the silent figure standing on the edge of Kami's Lookout. Dende was grinning down at Chikyuu.

"Kami-sama?"

Dende looked up and found his assistant standing nearby. "These twins truly are a breath of fresh air. There are few on Chikyuu like them."

Popo regarded his Kami as blankly as always. Dende blinked. "Well, it's been four months, Mister Popo. Shenlon has recovered enough for another wish. Finally things are beginning to happen." He returned his attention to the Earth below. "I just hope that I can block as many of the obstacles as possible. It's not time for Trejiita just yet, but almost." Dende smiled. "Things are going just as they should."

Popo looked down at Chikyuu, unable to see as Dende without Kami eyes of his own. "How long?"

Dende regarded his domain. "Not long. Not long at all."

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"Anou, Shi-chan? Where's the island?" Kuroi stared out across the vastness known as the ocean. She had originally planned to just swim to the island housing the first dragonball, but she had never seen a body of water larger than the lake by their cabin. There wasn't a landmass in sight.

Shiroi squinted out across the water, straining for a glimmer of land. She looked again to the Dragon Ball Radar. "Well, it's out there. On an island, but it's further than I thought."

"We can't swim _that_ far! How are we supposed to get all the way over _there_?!" Kuroi stomped her foot and Shiroi ignored her sister's brewing tantrum, instead focusing her attention on their current problem.

Her black eyes scanned the beach, combing it for any sign of a raft. Upon seeing none, she turned to her twin. "We need to search the beach until we find a boat. We'll use that to get to the island." Hiking up her bag to a more comfortable position, she started east, waiting for her sister to follow.

It took an hour of walking, but eventually the twins found an old boat upside down on the sand. With a little handiwork, it was again in working condition. After a push, they were on the water.

Kuroi stared at the ocean. "Uhm, aren't we supposed to be going somewhere?"

Shiroi rose an eyebrow. "Of course we are. You take the paddle and use it."

Frowning, Kuroi looked around. "There's no paddle." Shiroi twirled around, dangerously rocking the boat.

"_What_?" Calming herself, she closed her eyes, thinking. "Okay, we'll use our stuff and make a sail."

"Then what?" Kuroi looked uncertainly at the blanket Shiroi pulled from their bag.

"We'll have to use our flashy hand techniques to blow ourselves to the island."

Kuroi's eyes widened. "But we'll set the blanket on fire!"

Shaking her head, Shiroi looked up. "Remember what Teddy taught us about holding back?"

"Oh." Kuroi looked down at her hands. _I never knew what he meant by that._

Shiroi continued working until a fair sail was erected. Looking to her twin, she nodded. "Okay, time to use our flashy hand techniques."

Lifting her hand, Kuroi aimed it at the middle of the blanket. "Ha!" A flash erupted from her hand, blowing it back, and the boat jerked violently forward. Shiroi gripped the edge tightly. She didn't notice anything amiss until an ash of the blanket floated onto her arm. Looking up at the sail, she found an inferno replacing the blanket.

"Ku-chan, you were supposed to hold _back_!" Kuroi addressed her twin with a sheepish grin, and tossed the blazing blanket overboard. Shiroi sighed deeply.

"Gomen, Shi-chan."

"We'll have to live without a blanket now. Not until we get to a village, but to do that we need to get to the island first. We have to think of something else." Shiroi sat, plopping her chin in her hands.

"Why don't we just push ourselves?"

Shiroi looked at her twin in annoyance. "We can't push ourselves, we're on _water_."

Kuroi moved to the rear of the boat and slipped her hand into the water. "We can do this." With another kiyaa, she released a ki blast. After violently jerking again, the boat moved forward.

Shiroi blinked at Kuroi's submerged hand. Raising her eyes, she blinked at Kuroi. "Why didn't you say this before?"

"But I did. You were too busy making your sail."

Irritated, but holding it in, Shiroi joined her sister at the rear of the boat. "You take first shift. I'll continue in half an hour. At this rate, we should be there a little while before sunset."

Kuroi grinned, dipping her hands into the water. "_Yosh'_. Hold on, I'm going to use the big flashy ball." With this, the twins were well on their way.

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Uubu picked himself off the ground just in time to avoid a bright flash of ki. Forming one of his own, he blindly threw it behind him, hoping to gain himself time to escape a fair distance. Using a nearby tree, he flipped and faced his opponent.

Gokuu grinned, knocking the poorly planned ki ball aside and continued pursing the boy. Uubu was better these days, but he was still only eleven and had much more to learn; planning and predicting his opponent's moves for instance. His grin widened when he saw Uubu come about to face him, fist ready.

Using his Shunkan Idou, Gokuu vanished, startling the young boy. Uubu stopped his advance and wildly searched the surrounding trees. There were thousands of places to wait in ambush. His head whipped up as his sensei's voice rang through the air.

"Tsk, tsk, Uubu. You need to think a little more about what your opponent is thinking before making any moves. If they vanish, don't use your eyes, use your senses." Gokuu half stood, half floated over the top of a tall pine, with arms crossed and the usual smile spread across his features.

"Gomen, Gokuu-san," the youth responded, face down.

Gokuu jumped, landing in front of Uubu. With the thumb of one hand in his belt, he raised the other and ruffled the boy's hair. "That's okay, Uubu. Fighting is an art. We are always learning new things. One day you will master what I've taught you."

Uubu nodded mutely, face still downcast. Gokuu stuck both thumbs in his belt and leaned back, grinning at his student. "Want to try again?"

Raising his head, Uubu nodded, a smile forming. "Hai!"

The earth Saiyajin fell into his stance, grin as wide as ever when his senses began to pick something up. Uubu was about to charge when Gokuu held up a hand, stalling his advance. "Wait."

Uubu regarded his sensei curiously as Gokuu turned his face towards the nearby ocean. "Gokuu-san?"

Gokuu turned back to his student. "It's getting late, and we've trained hard today." Face alight, he grinned. "I think we can stop here. We'll continue tomorrow."

Slightly disappointed, but also glad the exhausting day was over, Uubu nodded. "Hai, Gokuu-san." Uubu turned to go back to the village, looking behind him to see if his sensei was following. Gokuu remained still, looking towards the sea. "Gokuu-san?"

Gokuu looked at his student, face beaming. "Don't worry about me, Uubu. I'll be there in a little while."

Concerned, but not questioning his teacher, Uubu turning, trotting in the direction of his village. _Gokuu-san... What's out there?_

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Kuroi was the first one out of the boat on onto dry land despite the fact that she had been the one to have the final shift of playing motor. Shiroi tossed her twin's pack to her, and tugged the boat farther up on the shore.

"What're you doing? We need to go get the dragonball," Kuroi demanded, impatient. Shiroi gave the boat a final yank and walked over to her pale twin.

"We also need that boat to get us off of this island. Or do you want to swim?"

Kuroi waved it off. "Can we get the dragonball yet, or are you not finished messing around?"

Shiroi pointed towards the south. "This way."

Shiroi could only take one step forward before her path was suddenly blocked by a blue gi.

Kuroi stepped into her fighting stance, face a mask of fury. "What do you want, male?"

Shiroi glared up at the face of the male in her way. Then, as if struck, her expression slackened and her black eyes widened. "Gokuu-sama!" she gasped, taking several steps backwards.

Kuroi glanced at her twin for a split second, her attention directed at 'Gokuu-sama' in front of her. "Who?"

Shiroi waved at her sister. "Get out of your stance, Ku-chan. This is the demi-god I was telling you about; the one who helped me with the dragonballs."

Kuroi straightened, her fists settling at her sides. "Oh. "

Gokuu raised a hand in a cheerful wave. "Yo!"

Head slightly tilted, Kuroi approached the earth Saiyajin, moving around him in a circle. She noted the strong muscle build and fighting gi. The calluses on his hands proved him to be a seasoned fighter, yet no scars marred him. Kuroi stopped her inspection in front of him. Grinning, she reached out, grabbing Gokuu's right hand with her own and pulling it tightly to her chest. Shiroi's eyebrow twitched, recognizing the formal amazon greeting.

Gokuu blinked at her blankly, wondering what she was doing. "Anou..."

Kuroi blinked herself up at the warrior. "Anou... You're supposed to do the same thing."

"Oh, okay." Flexing his arm, her pulled her hand to his chest, arms forming a lock. Kuroi was roughly yanked towards him, nose nearly smashing into his chest. "Now what?" He looked down at her, curiosity written all over his face.

Squeezing his hand as tightly as she could, she grinned up at him. _Let's see who's stronger..._ "Now you squeeze."

After a moment's hesitation, Gokuu complied. He only stopped when Kuroi was trying desperately to wrench her red hand out of his unaffected one. Frantically, Kuroi blew on the offended member. Gokuu watched her in concern. "Did I hurt you? You said to squeeze."

Kuroi scowled at her hand and looked up at the curious male. "No,ofcoursenot. I'm not that easily hurt." Her hand continued to throb behind her back, out of sight of the Saiyajin. _Okay, so he's stronger than I am, but that doesn't mean he's a better fighter._

"Oh, okay." His usual smile returned as he stuck his thumbs into his belt. "What was that for?"

"It's the formal amazon greeting. Amazons greet fellow amazons and worthy warriors in this way," Shiroi said.

"Really?" Gokuu scratched his chin idly in thought. Now that he thought about it, Chichi _did_ want to beat him up the first time they met at the Tenka Ichi Bodokai.

"Anyway, now that we've said hello and everything..." Kuroi grinned at the male, her hand's injury apparently better and forgotten. "Let's spar!"

Shiroi turned to her twin, mouth opening to reprimand her sister for challenging a demi-god when Gokuu interrupted her.

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Gokuu grinned and fell into a stance.

Kuroi's brow furrowed lightly, for his stance strongly resembled hers. Shrugging it off, she fell into her own and the two faced off.

It was Kuroi to charge first, pressing off the ground at a faster than expected speed. Gokuu quickly rose his arm to block her advancing fist. She pressed on, throwing her all into her attack. The male merely blocked or dodged each of her tries.

_Strange...,_ Gokuu thought. _Her fighting style is so familiar._ He glanced over to the silent Shiroi, remembering her own battles with the Red Ribbon army. _They fight alike, only this one is stronger and more spontaneous, but not unplanned. Why is it so familiar?_

Kuroi heaved in frustration, yelling at the male to regain his attention. "Stop dodging me, and fight back!"

Eyebrows shooting up, he obliged the amazon with a hefty cuff to the head. Kuroi reeled back, rolling into a little pile on the ground a fair distance away.

Gokuu watched with curiosity as Kuroi sat up, rubbing her head. "Itetetetete." She quirked an embarrassed smile up at Gokuu. "Jeez, you're good! I didn't think you'd hit so hard."

Gokuu gave a short, friendly laugh. "You have an intensity that is very formidable. And you're very spontaneous. That is good in a fight; your enemy cannot come to expect your moves."

Kuroi looked up at Gokuu with wide light blue eyes. "I like you!" she exclaimed, bouncing to her feet. "I can even forget that you're the wrong gender, and everything!"

Gokuu placed a hand behind his head, laughing sheepishly, unsure how to react. He noticed Shiroi, watching quietly, arms crossed reminding him of a much-missed warrior.

"So why are you two here on the island?"

Shiroi nodded towards her twin. "We're collecting the dragonballs again."

Gokuu cocked his head to the side and made a curious noise. "Again?"

Shiroi quickly spoke over anything her twin was saying. "We need to make a wish that's very important," and left it at that. Kuroi curiously regarded her twin, uncertain as to why they couldn't tell Gokuu what their wish was going to be. Gokuu nodded, sticking his thumbs into his belt.

"Well, if you're gathering the dragonballs, then you aren't going to get them collected very quickly walking everywhere." Gokuu lifted his head and called for his cloud, Kintoun.

Kuroi screamed like a banshee as the yellow cloud zipped from the heavens and puttered to a stop in front of Gokuu.

"Get it away from me, it's going to eat me!" Kuroi danced in circles before bolting behind her sister. "That's the cloud that tried to eat me when I fell off of Kami's Lookout!"

Gokuu placed a hand on the cloud, his eyes dancing with laughter. Kuroi warily watched him as he then launched himself onto the cloud as if it was a form of transportation - like a horse or a car. Gokuu smiled his most boyish smile and held out his hand to the black-haired twin. "C'mon, it doesn't bite. And it's much faster than walking."

Kuroi ignored Gokuu's hand and inched closer, her blue eyes fixed on the floating cloud. Her hand gingerly rested on the surface, the pressure increasing until Kuroi was pressing into the cloud with all of her strength. Gokuu watched patiently as Kuroi then retrieved her hand and wiggled her fingers. All five were still there. After seven more tries, Kuroi was satisfied that the cloud was not going to eat her - at least not as long as Gokuu was sitting on it - and scrambled onto it. She kept her senses open for a long moment, just in case the cloud suddenly decided that its cargo wasn't satisfactory and munched on her.

Gokuu jumped off of the cloud while Kuroi occupied herself with bouncing tremulously on the cloud, testing for limitations. Shiroi was at his side within a moment, and he glanced down at her with a bright grin. Shiroi was unemotional, save for a flicker in her black eyes.

"Domo arigatou Gokuu-sama, for the used of your cloud."

Gokuu's grin increased. "Don't call me Gokuu-sama; I'm not a demi-god. I'm just an earthling like you. Call me Gokuu."

Shiroi's wanted to rant that the last thing he was was 'just an earthling,' but held her tongue. "Domo arigatou, Gokuu."

"Well, I've got to go, or Uubu is going to really start worrying about me. Good luck!" Gokuu waved at the engrossed Kuroi on Kintoun and then winked at Shiroi beside him. With a spring in his step, he walked towards the village on the horizon.

Kuroi glanced up at Shiroi as she crawled onto the cloud beside her sister. "Oi, where'd Gokuu go?"

Shiroi pointed towards the village. "Back to his family. And we need to go collect the dragonballs."

Now that she was assured that the cloud that she sat upon was quite docile and the least bit carnivorous - although she wasn't 100% sure about that one - Kuroi's vibrato returned. "_Ouu_! Let's get going!"

Shiroi nodded and patted Kintoun hesitantly. She'd watched Gokuu do this, but she still wasn't sure. "Kintoun, go south about 5 to 10 miles."

Kuroi's shrill scream filled the air as Kintoun lurched and then zipped southward.


	8. Chapter Seven

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

Kuroi watched Kintoun warily. "So now what?" she asked her twin who was pulling each of the seven dragon balls out of their packs and placing them beside each other on the ground. Shiroi's head popped up to regard her sister, then her eyes flickered to the cloud that Kuroi was standing next to.

"Oh, Kintoun? You can send it away: we don't need it anymore. After we're fused, we can train here until the Tenka Ichi Budokai." Kuroi nodded in quasi-understanding.

Shiroi returned to messing with the dragonballs while Kuroi tried to send it away.

Kuroi lifted a hand and wafted it at the cloud. The cloud quivered for a moment before settling down again. Bolder, Kuroi placed her hand on the cloud and pushed. The cloud puttered away for pace and then stopped to hover, undisturbed. Kuroi's black eyebrows furrowed. Stomping to the cloud she grabbed the cloud and shoved. Kintoun flew in the direction Kuroi had shoved with rapid speed, then slowed and puttered to a stop. Kuroi screamed in frustration. "Shi-chan, it won't go away!"

Shiroi glanced up at her sister, and then at Kintoun a fair distance away from the both of them. "Well that's a start. Gokuu-sama told us that if we wanted Kintoun to call its name."

Kuroi glared at the still present cloud. "Well, we don't want it anymore."

Shiroi considered Kintoun for a moment. "Maybe say its name backwards."

Kuroi scrunched up her nose. "Nuotnik?"

Shiroi watched the unmoving cloud. She turned to her twin. "Did you tell it to go away?"

Kuroi thought this over. "No."

Shiroi called out to the cloud. "Kintoun, go away!"

After a pause, Kintoun shot off towards the sky. Kuroi glared after it while Shiroi returned to the dragonballs.

"Now what?" Kuroi asked, joining her sister by the dragonballs.

Shiroi glanced at her sister from the corner of her eyes and raised her hands into the sky. " Arise, Great Dragon, and grant my wishes!"

Kuroi tensed as the sky darkened and the dragonballs began to glow. Before Kuroi could even gasp, a bolt of lighting struck up into the sky from the now blinding bright dragonballs and the dragon appeared.

Kuroi made a noise of awe. "That's the dragon?!" Kuroi shouted, her neck craned back to take in as much of the dragon as she could. "Woohoo, he's huge!"

The dragon's rumbling voice stroke fingers down Kuroi's spine. "**I will grant any two wishes. What is your wish?**"

Shiroi took a deep breath, a hand held up to forestall her sister. "Shenlon, I wish for my sister, Kuroi, and I, Shiroi, to be fused into one person!"

Kuroi pouted at her twin for not allowing her to make the wish. She was about to voice her opinion when something pulled at her, and then slammed into her side.

Pain sliced up and down her body. The light was too bright, and the air too strong, too stifling. She couldn't breathe deep enough, but she had too much breath in her lungs. Her head clamored with two sets of thoughts, and twice as much pain. Her eight limbs melted into four.

The world righted itself within minutes.

She panted in both fear and exhilaration. She survived it? She hadn't died?

Shenlon's both foreign and familiar voice filled the air around them. "**Your wish has been granted. Do you have any more wishes?**"

With a smirk, she told him she had no others and watched in awe as Shenlon retreated to the dragonballs, and then the hovering stones shot off in all directions to recuperate.

Kuroi's mind danced giddily beside Shiroi's.

_It worked Shi-chan!_ Kuroi wanted to do flips. The body that housed both Kuroi and Shiroi remained still. Shiroi's mind was affectionately amused, but unwilling to do flips. Kuroi settled down, and enjoyed the shared feeling of success.

She lifted her head and howled to the skies. "Now nothing can stop us!"

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"Ah, finally," Dende stated at no one in particular.

It was Popo who listened. "Has it happened?"

Dende nodded, grinning over at his assistant. "Yes. Gokuu-san loaned Kintoun to them so their trip was much faster and easier." Dende looked back down at the joyous twins; now one person. "Influencing Gokuu-san is very easy. Normally he doesn't need it, but in this case, I'm not quite sure if it was his will or mine for them to have use of the cloud. Gokuu-san truly is pure hearted. He helps anyone who needs it."

Nodding, Popo also gazed down at Chikyuu. "It is why he is the true savior of Earth."

This time Dende nodded. "Yes. He is the heart and spirit of Chikyuu. Perhaps this is why he helped the twins. He already knows, somewhere deep within himself, that they are essential to the flow of Chikyuu's history. Gokuu-san will not live forever. But he has influenced eternity to come."

"What happens now?"

Dende closed his eyes, a smile on his lips. "I've kept someone asleep while the twins were fusing. It's time for them to wake up."

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Dark blue eyes flashed open, as he sat up abruptly. Sweat had formed across his features and he panted, eyes now squeezed shut.

"Kuso," he muttered in an odd double voice.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed out the built up tension in his shoulders and reflected upon his nightmare. His brow furrowed as he sensed an unusual ki suddenly manifest nearby. Is that what had woken him? Standing, he brushed dust off his gray pants and went to investigate.

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The fused twins looked down, raising their - now her - hands to inspect her new form.

Her skin was neither the deep tan of Shiroi or pale whiteness of Kuroi. The wish had blended the two into a common shade of flesh. She turned her hand, continuing her inspection. A new power surged through her. She could feel it, down to her bones. A section of hair fell over her shoulder, and she took a bit of it to inspect it as well. Like her skin, it had blended the black of Kuroi's hair, and the white of Shiroi's hair into a pleasant silver that glimmered brightly in the sun. She guessed that her eyes had also been blended, creating some usual shade of blue. Dropping the bit of hair, she looked up and smiled.

_Su-sugee! Kakkoi!_ Kuroi regarded her twin's mind, an intense desire to jump up and down again bubbling out of her. _Isn't this great?!_

Shiroi, also excited, but certainly more reserved, agreed. _I didn't know exactly what to expect. This is far beyond what I had been imagining._

_What shall we call ourselves?_

Shiroi pondered this for a moment before finally answering. _Giniro._

_Perfect! I can see it now. "The world champion fighter, amazon warrior Giniro!"_

Silent, Shiroi allowed her sister to voice her fantasies about being the strongest in the world and stomping on every male in existence. Instead of contributing to her images, she inspected the minute details of Giniro's body. Being as Kuroi and Shiroi were identical twins, ignoring their coloring, Giniro's body was very comfortable. Her senses were more acute, and even with the tiny motions she had already made, Shiroi could tell her reflexes and speed were increased. Even separate the twins were a match for a large group of seasoned male fighters. Now, fused, there was nothing to stand in their way; aside from a gun. With how she felt Shiroi was sure she could probably even dodge a bullet.

... _right, Shi-chan?_

Having been distracted, Shiroi had been ignoring her twin's ravings. _Sorry what?_

_I said we should start training right away for the Tenka Ichi Bodokai._

_Oh, yes we should._ With this, Giniro's eyes refocused from her inner dialog and looked around. "Which way is the Tenka Ichi Bodokai, 'cause here I come."

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Trejiita scowled as he focused on the ki source. Swerving through some trees, he ducked under a low hanging branch to avoid making noise. _Ah, one of the quirks of being able to fly._

Slowing to a hover, he eased his weight to the ground, carefully avoiding dry leaves and their noise. Peering from behind a tree, he noticed a sizable clearing. There in the middle, with her back to him, stood a silent figure.

He narrowed his eyes, observing the stranger. Yes, this was the source of the unusual ki. He tilted his head in thought. Her ki was certainly human. Or at least it seemed human. It had the familiarity of Chikyuu blood, but it wavered and seemed almost... beautiful to him. He scowled sharply. _Beautiful, my arse. With ki like that, no matter how human-like it seems, she must be an alien. A threat to Chikyuu?_

Creeping closer, he moved to another tree, hoping to get a better look at her features. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she spoke.

"Which way is the Tenka Ichi Bodokai, 'cause here I come."

_What is she, psychic?!_ Quickly he leaned against the tree he was hiding behind and crossed his arms. If he was caught, he might as well not let her know he was trying to hide.

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Giniro turned, a huge self-satisfied smirk on her face. Her eyebrows shot up as she found she had an audience. A shorter than average man was leaning against a nearby tree, his arms and legs crossed. He had wild, deep purple hair and it rose towards the sky, split in the middle as if by lightning. Two tendrils hung from the tip of his widow's peak, falling over his face. She idly wondered how he could ignore them.

His face was hard, a scowl imprinted upon his features half hidden by a beard and mustache, and she found two orbs of dark blue staring at her. She noticed twin earrings dangling from his ears and puzzled over the fact that they were the only jewelry he wore. He wore a skintight black tank top, offering no question as to the strength of the muscles beneath, and a pair of fingerless white gloves covered his hands. A pair of gray pants graced his legs, tucked into mustard yellow boots.

"Who are you and what are you looking at?" she demanded, an odd, uncomfortable feeling forming as he continued to stare at her.

His eyes narrowed, regarding her. "I'm called Trejiita."

She scowled sharply. This... this _male_ dared to treat her like this?! So wrapped up in his disrespect, she dismissed his unusual double voice. "You better run away before you get hurt," she warned.

Faintly, a smirk grew on his lips. "You can't hurt me even if you wanted to." His eyes remained narrowed, watching for any changes in her unusual ki. _What is she? Human or not?_

Kuroi's brash nature flared, barely kept in check by her twin. _This male really is a dense one. You'd think he was challenging us!_

Giniro stared silently at him; eyes slightly unfocused as Kuroi and Shiroi debated this male.

Huffing and pride pricked, Kuroi addressed her twin. _Want to test ourselves?_

Shiroi regarded the stranger for a moment before replying. _Sounds like fun. It'd be a good chance to figure out our limits._

_Forget limits; let's kick his cocky arse out of here!_ At this, Giniro's eyes narrowed. "Well then, let's find out just how much I _can_ hurt you." Lowering into a stance, she locked onto her target. "Get ready."

Trejiita uncrossed his arms; smirk completely vanished from his face. Disturbed by her increase in ki, he scowled. Fists tightening, he stood his ground, watching and waiting for her attack. He prepared himself, hoping that she wasn't a legitimate threat to Chikyuu.

Giniro eyed the male warily. Despite her recent creation, she was still unsure of her abilities. And this male, no matter how typical he may appear, still struck something odd in her. He didn't look like every other male she had seen in her journeys as Kuroi and Shiroi; his eyes were definitely too sharp to be normal. Biting down her Shiroi logic, Giniro tensed her muscles, and pressed away from the ground, startling even herself with her new speed. With fist extended, she charged.

Trejiita flew backwards at the force of the hit, landing roughly against a tree, cracking the trunk a bit. Slowly he rose his head, watching her as she stared at her fist in awe_. Has she never punched someone before?_ Using his glove, he wiped the trickle of blood forming at the corner of his mouth. He had let her punch him - he wanted to see her power before doing anything rash.

He stood, still watching her as she continued to stand and stare at her fist. His eyes narrowed. She surprised him with her speed; no human should be that fast. He was also surprised by the power in her punch. A typical human would have broken their hand on his jaw, not draw blood. He must certainly keep himself guarded - he still didn't know the extent of her powers. She may even have psychic powers. After all, she had caught him with his ki lowered and completely silent. As a safeguard, he rose a mental shield.

Giniro's mind buzzed. Kuroi, if she still had her own body, would have been standing slack-jawed.

_Did... did you see that?!_

Mutely and equally shocked, Shiroi expressed an affirmative.

Certain of herself and confidence surging, Giniro looked up at her victim. Her eyes widened slightly when she found him standing a distance away. _Standing?!_

"Not bad," she said, body straightening. "You're stronger than I thought you would be." He narrowed his eyes, almost calculatingly, and curled his fists. Taking the cue, Giniro charged once more.

Trejiita fell into a pattern of blocking that was disconcertingly familiar. He looked closer at her style as she attacked him. _So familiar... I've seen this style before. But where? It couldn't be..._

His train of thought was effectively broken as his opponent screamed in frustration and thrust her hand in front of his face. He had barely enough time to blink when a flash of light blinded him.

Giniro half smirked as Trejiita flew back, face steaming lightly. Trejiita growled as he stood. _She knows ki?!_ Deciding he was done observing, he charged at her. Giniro didn't even have time to finish her smirk when a sharp pain lanced across her jaw. Flying backwards, she heaped into a pile, blood trickling down her chin.

Unlike Trejiita, it took her a long while to stand. Head hanging, she gingerly touched the offended area. Wincing, she scrunched her face up and formed a semi-scowl. "... Ite." Giniro stood and frowned at the male in front of her. Rage overcame her at his ability to cause her to express _any_ statement of pain.

Hoping to catch him off-guard, she sprung from the ground, using her father's favorite tactic. With her arms and legs tucked in, she leapt at him. Feigning a punch, she fell to the ground, sweeping her legs under him. Raising and pulling them in, she waited for his body to fall so she could plant her feet into his back. When it didn't, shock tugged at her features. "Nani?!"

Giniro met with a solid kick to the side, again sending her flying. Curling into a ball, she cradled her aching body.

Kuroi's mind seethed, incredulous that this _male_ could defeat her. _No, this can't be happening!_ Giniro writhed. _This male is stronger than us! Even after fusing, it CAN'T be!_

Shiroi remained silent; the implications of defeat grinding into her.

_I don't wanna be married yet!_ Kuroi whined.

With much effort, Giniro pulled herself to her feet and glared at Trejiita. He watched as she stood, face schooled and inexpressive except for a pointed scowl. _She's weaker than I thought. I've only hit her with my weakest attacks. She's stronger than a normal human, but she's certainly no threat._

He lifted an eyebrow in curiosity as her face went through several stages of emotion, varying from anger to consent and back again. Finally, her face scrunched up and she yelled at him. "Bakayaro, idiot, I hate you, you're no good, so there!" Taking her shredded pride she stormed off, leaving a very confused and slightly amused Trejiita in her wake.

Turning himself, he smirked. "Ke, stupid humans."

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Giniro stomped her foot in a very Kuroi like fashion and she scowled. Squatting down, she picked up a stick and poked at the ground only to drop it and then sit with her arms and legs crossed.

_Ku-chan, we have to go back._

_I don't want to!_

We're amazons. He defeated us in battle. According to the law, we are to be married, and there's nothing we can do about it except challenge him again, and you and I both know what the outcome of that will be.

Giniro's lips pouted as Kuroi responded. _But he's stupid! I don't like him!_

It doesn't matter if you like him or not, Ku-chan. Remember what Mama told us about Papa? She didn't like him at first either.

_I'll never like him, though!_

Giniro sighed. _Here's what we can do. We'll go back, have him fulfill his duty as a husband and have him train us. When we've finally surpassed him in strength, we can challenge him again and dissolve the marriage._

_What about the Tenka Ichi Bodokai? We're supposed to be there!_

We can go next time, Ku-chan. Right now, this is more important.

Biting her lower lip, Giniro stood. _Fine. But I'm not having any brats with him._

Eyes focused, she quietly snuck back to the clearing just in time to see Trejiita walking away. Giniro's lips pursed and she crept after him.

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Dende sighed, exhausted. Giniro was much tougher to influence than he had first surmised, about as tough as Trejiita when it came to that department. He could tell he was going to have a hard time with these two. A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Has it happened yet?" Popo asked.

Looking to his companion on Kami's Tower, he slowly shook his head. "No, Mister Popo, it hasn't. We have to wait a while longer before Trejiita can be discovered. He still has an important task."

Content to waiting, the patient Popo wandered back over to the garden, tending to the flower buds peeking out of the ground. Dende looked down at Chikyuu. Face serious, he sighed yet again. "So much waiting."

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Trejiita dusted his pants free of the dirt that had accumulated there during his "fight" with the nameless girl. Despite her unusualness, he figured he was still mindless to believe she was a threat in the first place. _Ah well, one less chance for exposure._

Starting in the direction he had come from, he tensed as he felt her ki grow near again. Curious but not quite concerned enough to confront her again, he continued on his way. To his interest, she persistently kept close enough to have him in eyesight, yet just far enough away for the average human to not detect. _Too bad I'm Saiyajin and can sense her halfway across the world. If I ignore her, she'll eventually lose interest and go away._

To his annoyance, however, by the time sunset had rolled around she was _still_ following him. Hoping she wouldn't bug him, he set up camp. Irritated, he constructed and started a fire the old fashioned way. He didn't want her to know about his ki powers. Trejiita hunted a large dinosaur and set it up, leaning against a tree while it cooked. A waft of air - thick with the scent of heated meat - fanned under his noise and his stomach growled loudly in response. Trejiita sorely lamented that he couldn't just ki fry the monster and eat it that second. He closed his eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Small snapping noises caught his attention and he watched a glint of silver flicker in between a gathering of trees bob closer, hesitate, and then rush forward again. Trejiita lifted an eyebrow as the girl who had been discreetly following him until now dug a foot into the ground and kicked.

The large wave of dirt and rocks easily topped his head and was aimed both him and the fire. Squeezing his eyes closed, Trejiita waited for the wave to crash on him. Running was undignified.

When he opened his eyes again, he found the silver haired girl eating _his_ dinosaur in front of the now non-existent fire which was covered by several layers of dirt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, woman!?" Trejiita barked, lunging forward to snatch the haunch she held to her mouth. Giniro twisted her food out of the way of Trejiita's grasping hands, and thrust a foot out which was meant to catch him in the stomach and keep him at bay.

Trejiita easily bat her leg aside and leaned farther forward in his attempt to retrieve his meal. Giniro twisted the leg of the dinosaur the other way and up into the air. She placed her other hand underneath her, as her pivot, while she swept a leg underneath the angry male.

Trejiita made a started yelp as he teetered forward. Giniro quickly realized that he was going to crush her if she didn't move and before she could decide otherwise, forfeited her claim on the dinosaur and shoved the meat into Trejiita's mouth. The move effectively stopped his decent long enough for Giniro to roll away from him and scamper towards the dinosaur to rip free the other haunch.

Quicker than Giniro, Trejiita latched onto her ankle while she was scampering and pulled. Dirt, sticks, and rocks scraped her palms and knees raw as she pressed all four of her limbs to the ground, trying to make her body heavier and slow her progression towards the purple haired male.

Once it was within grasping range, Trejiita grabbed Giniro's hip, and then a handful of thick, silver hair, wrenching the girl's head back uncomfortably.

With his free hand, Trejiita took the leg of the dinosaur from his mouth and scowled ferociously at Giniro.

"Who are you and what do you think you're doing eating _my_ meal?"

Giniro glared at Trejiita from the corner of her eyes. "I am an amazon warrior, and by amazon code I must marry the man who defeats me in battle. So, starting earlier today, I am your wife."

With an oath, Trejiita thrust the girl away from him as if she was on fire. Giniro stumbled a few steps away and then scowled at Trejiita, her breath coming fast from both exertion and emotions. She wanted to be married to this pompous male as much as he wanted to be married to her, but a law was a law, and duty demanded her to follow it. "And, seeing as how males can do no more than to fight over females and hunt for their families, I am eating what my husband has provided for me."

Trejiita spat viciously at Giniro's feet. "Find your own food. I am neither your husband nor willing to become him, so I suggest you take your amazon law somewhere else."

"Train me." Giniro blurted her blue eyes intense. Trejiita blinked, for a moment speechless by the randomness of her words.

"You are a strong male. I have never fought against a male so strong. I wish to be just as strong; stronger, and you can show me how."

Trejiita narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Why should I?

"As my husband, it is your du-"

"Your laws mean nothing to me. My duty does not involve you."

"Then as a warrior. Impart your wisdom to a fellow warrior. Your day will come when you can no longer fight. Teach me to be as strong as you, and I will take your place. Then your duty _will_ involve me."

Though he did not want to admit it, the girl interested Trejiita. He'd never come across a woman with so much spirit. _ Save for _her_, but she can no longer be mine_. She was manipulative, and single-minded. Persistent, and patient enough. She possessed no threat to Chikyuu, and no threat to himself. And most importantly she possessed no link to his past, and so she did not threaten to uncover him. In fact, she appeared to pose a nice form of distraction. Perhaps, even provide him with the companionship that half of him yearned for.

"You will never be as strong as me. Nothing you do, no matter how hard you train your body, no matter what lengths you go to, you will always be weaker."

"Why!?" Giniro demanded, face alive in anger. Trejiita felt a twinge of satisfaction that he wasn't the only one miffed. "You and I are no different! Females are the stronger sex. I can surpass you! And when I do, the Amazon law will no longer bind us."

"Amazons or no, female or no..."

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Dende shook his head, and continued to press his influence upon Trejiita's mind, this time with much more force. "Say it, Trejiita. Chikyuu needs you to say it..."

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"...you can never surpass a Saiyajin in strength!"

Giniro's eyes narrowed as she straightened, curious of the new word. Trejiita's nostrils flared and his eyes burned with hatred. "Saiyajin?" Giniro repeated. "Is that what makes you so different? I've never heard of your tribe..."

Trejiita stormed back to the rest of his dinner with his dinosaur thigh clutched tightly in his fist. What had come over him? Very few humans knew of the Saiyajin, and they all lived undisturbed because of it. Even though this one did not suspect that the Saiyajin were a separate species, it had been a close call.

During his meal, Trejiita stole glances at the silver haired girl who stood where he'd stormed away from, deep in thought. To disturb her thought process (the more she thought of the Saiyajin and what the implications were, the better) he shouted. "Tomorrow the training begins, woman. You better get some sleep because you'll need it."

Giniro turned around to regard the male with a grin. Kuroi settled down, her nervous energy gone now that she could move again. Shiroi's thoughts caressed her sister's like a purr. _See, I told you. Pretend to have something over him and he'll give in. He thinks we know, or are coming close to finding out what a Saiyajin is. Perhaps his race is more secretive than the amazons are! It was obvious that he didn't want us to know by the way he that reacted to his own announcement. It was a lapse in judgment._

_Whatever_, Kuroi's thought responded. _If we had to wait any longer and I would have burst!_

Giniro sauntered back to the gathering of trees she had run out of and picked up two packs, one white, the other black and shouldering both she moved closer to Trejiita's back. Placing them near the seething male, she pulled a blanket from one of them and, using the other as a pillow, drifted off to sleep.


End file.
